Anomaly: Book One: Beyond Forgiveness
by VolcanicPizza
Summary: Wracked by guilt after killing Sans, Frisk decided to absorb his soul before resetting, but was that such a good idea? Now, not only does she have powers she can barely control, but she's got a wisecracking skeleton in her head to boot! (Complete)
1. Reset

**A/N: This is my first full-length Undertale story, and only my second one I've written for Undertale, so don't be too critical.**

 **With that in mind, let's go forward.**

They had been fighting so long, longer for her than her opponent. He had killed her many times, and even seemed aware of it.

Now, though...

Now.

Now he was going to die at last.

The blade sliced forward, and the skeleton leaped to the side. "heh, didja really think you would be able-"

 **999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999**

A fierce grin cut across her face as she studied his fallen form. Blood oozed from the gash across his chest and from his mouth.

"well... guess that's it, then. just... don't say I didn't warn you."

Savage happiness sliced through her... and then, something fractured.

 _What have I done?_

"No!" she shrieked. "Sans, I'm sorry!"

"too... late for that," gasped the skeleton. "there's... only one way..."

"I know." Tears trickled down her cheeks. "I shouldn't have even started this!" she moaned.

The faces of the dead loomed in her skull. "Frisk..." they moaned.

And then a tear trickled across a mouth that was now split in a fierce grin.

"But there's no reason I shouldn't have an advantage when I reset."

She reached out towards Sans. "what..." he moaned, and then suddenly realized what she was going to do. "you can't. i won't let you." he gasped.

Frisk lifted an eyebrow. "How are you going to stop me?"

Sans's soul was beginning to shiver and fracture. "No, you don't." growled Frisk, and rammed it into her own chest.

There was blinding light, and she felt herself being lifted off the ground-

* * *

RESET

* * *

The same darkness, and the patch of flowers beneath her.

"Just as before."

 _"what happened? i really hope that this is a dream... wouldn't be the strangest..."_

She did not pick at his memories, instead walking forward towards the entrance to the ruins. _I will not abuse my powers._

 _"powers? oh... damn."_

Ignoring the skeleton once more, she headed into the next chamber.

There he was. The little yellow flower. Innocent-seeming, but really a deadly foe.

 _I should know._

"Don't you have anything better to do?" the flower asked.

"Howdy, Asriel." Frisk replied, allowing herself a momentary grin.

"Well, then..." Flowey sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

 _"You idiot!"_ Frisk rasped, causing the flower to flinch away. "You should realize the true power I have within me! It is a power, after all, you have known yourself." she added.

"You... You..." Flowey stuttered. " _You merged with a monster's soul?_ "

"Right before I reset." Frisk nodded. "I need an edge. After all, in this world it's kill or be killed, isn't it, Asriel?"

"Stop calling me that!"

"I know everything, now. I will use my powers to shape the world as I see fit, Asriel. Now, scram!"

With a frightened glance at Frisk's eyes, the yellow flower vanished into the ground.

"That's better." Frisk allowed a chuckle, then strode forward. There was still the business of getting through the ruins to get through.

 **A/N: A little short, but I still hope everyone will review and come back for the next chapter.**


	2. Ruins

**A/N: 'Sup, everyone? I'm back with a new chapter. (cue cheers)**

 **(I said cue cheers)**

 **Anyway, before I kick this story off, there's an issue I need to resolve. Some of my astute readers have informed me that in this story, Frisk is female, whereas in "Choices," Frisk is male, and inferred this to be a mistake on my part.**

 **They were wrong. I did this intentionally. When I was writing these, I had two choices: to make all of my Frisks the same, or to create each new one differently without reference to the others. I chose the latter, not only because it would be boring and predictable to have them all be the same but also to emphasize the variation between all of the parallel Frisks in the different timelines.**

 **Okay? Everyone cool?**

"Oh!"

 _She's here._ Frisk thought. _That hasn't changed._

"You've fallen down, haven't you?" asked the woman with the head of a goat. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through here each day to see if anybody has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time."

"So there aren't any other humans down here?" Frisk asked. _Best to play stupid for now. Mess with the timeline too much and you won't be able to predict what happens anymore._

 _what's going on?_ shrieked Sans inside of her head. _what's happening?_

"No. I am sorry, my child." Toriel responded. "Here, come with me. I will guide you through the catacombs."

"Okay." Frisk followed Toriel through the doorway. _Up the stairs and the puzzle will be there. Just like before._

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the ruins." Toriel headed towards the puzzle, but Frisk raised her hand. "Is that a puzzle? Can I try it out?"

"Yes... if you wish, my child." Toriel stepped backward.

 _Ha!_ Frisk confidently stepped onto the first set of two tiles, moved to the last row, stepped on the last two, and flicked the switch. The door opened.

"Well done, my child!" Toriel seemed impressed. "You did not even need any help. Let us move on to the next room."

Frisk followed Toriel into the next room.

"There are several switches in this room which you must trigger to make progress." Toriel said. "Since you performed so admirably with the last puzzle, I wonder if you can figure these out?"

"Sure." As Frisk moved forward, she noticed something. _The switches are still labelled. Odd._ Flicking the labelled switches, the spiked panels at the end of the room retracted.

"Splendid!" Toriel said. "I am proud of you, little one."

Suddenly, Toriel flickered before Frisk's eyes and became darker, gaunt, and gray. "My child, are you all right?" she asked in a hoarse, grunted voice.

Flickering again, Toriel reverted to her normal state. "My child!" she said in alarm.

The world began to sway around Frisk as everything began to turn blueish.

Suddenly, Frisk felt pain in her back. "Why?" she asked stupidly. Looking forward, the ceiling was directly in front of her. She giggled nervously; that couldn't be right, now, could it?

Somewhere, blue smoke was leaking. It obviously was, she could see it in front of her face, wafting towards the ceiling.

"My child!" she heard Toriel shout. The words echoed in her skull as everything grew bright.

* * *

 _"There's... just..."_

 _"hey, is something wrong?"_

 _"Yes. The human I found in the ruins... her condition is worsening, and I don't know what is causing it. She's been unconscious for the past day, and she's changing."_

 _"changing? how?"_

 _"She's becoming gaunt, her skin whiter, and her eyes are changing color... and..."_

 _"i'm sure that she'll-"_

 _"No, you don't understand! When she came down here, she was wearing a striped shirt, and the last time I went in to check on her, it had changed into a blue jacket! I think that there's seriously something wrong!"_

 _"do you want me to come over to the other side and look at it? i'm not sure if i could do anything, but. . . ' '_

* * *

"Howdy!"

 _Am I imagining things again? Not a surprise, after what happened..._

 _you deserve it, you dirty brother killer._

 _Oh, would you be quiet? Like it or not, you're in my body now, and I'm the one in control._

"Wake up, kid!"

 _ha... ha... ha... HOW WRONG YOU ARE!_

With a gasp, Frisk sat up in bat. Sweat was pouring in rivers down her body.

Flowey was sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Oh, good, you're awake." Flowey grinned confidently.

"What are you doing in my roo-" Frisk's voice faltered as she realized she was in the room she'd slept in in Toriel's house. "Wait, how did I get here?"

"Oh, after you passed out in the ruins, Toriel carried you in here and set you in bed. You've been unconscious for the better part of a day." Flowey said casually.

"Wait, what?" Frisk tried to pull herself out of bed, but the effort was too great and she fell back into bed again, exhausted. "Why is this happening?"

"No human has ever absorbed a monster's soul before, you know." Flowey said. "It's a much greater ordeal with the stronger human soul and weaker monster soul fighting inside you. Should be over in a few days, but I can't guarantee what physical or mental state you'll be in. The changes have already started, you know."

"What?"

"See you around, kid!" Flowey popped down under the foot of the bed and vanished from sight.

"What?" With a gasp, Frisk managed to pull herself up out of bed. "Aah!" She slipped and fell to the ground, crashing on her face. _No! I won't give up! I can't give up!_

She was filled with DETERMINATION...

and twelve seconds later, was also filled with pain as she fell down again on her way to the door. "Ow! Damn!"

 _Can't... give... up..._

 _nah, kid, you go ahead and give up. i did. giving up is what you have to do-_

 _NEVER!_ With a growl Frisk pulled herself back upright. _Gotta get... to the mirror... see what the flower was talking about._

She fell six more times on the way down the hallway towards the mirror at the end. As she passed a potted plant she fell again, but kept going on hands and knees. _NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER GIVE UP!_

She reached the mirror, and grabbing the edge of it, pulled herself upright with a scream of frustration.

The face that stared back at her...

Her skin was now bone white, and her left eye blazed with blue fire. Smoke wafted upward from it. It was as if her skin had been pulled back towards her skull.

"NOOO!" With a crash, Frisk fell to the floor. The folds of the blue hoodie she wore drifted down besides her.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"


	3. Home

**A/N: I think that my postings are going to become more irregular from now on. You know how it is when life gets in the way. To make up for that, I'll try to make my chapters longer. Thanks for being understanding and considerate about this.**

 **Also, I don't remember if I already said this, but I don't own Undertale.**

"My child, are you feeling better?"

Frisk blinked bleary eyes. "Sort of..."

Toriel tried to make a small smile, but it didn't seem to come out right. "When you're ready to get up, I have something for you."

Frisk nodded and sat up in bed as Toriel left the room.

 _What was happening to me?_ Already it was becoming hazy. Something had been changing...

Frisk managed to stand up, and this time her legs didn't betray her. She was a little shaky, but that was to be expected of someone who hadn't eaten for so long.

Frisk walked to the door. _I'm going to look at the mirror and see if that was just a dream, or what._ She opened the door-

-and came out of the hallway right next to the mirror.

 _What?_

 _heh. you already know what just happened, kid._ Sans didn't seem to be so angry anymore about his soul being trapped inside of her, or maybe he was just pretending.

 _I teleported?_ Now that she thought about it, it made sense. When she'd absorbed Sans's soul, she'd mainly been thinking about having the powers to use on a reset timeline. She hadn't really thought about what they'd be, but of course she'd have his powers now, among them teleportation.

 _not really teleportation, or at least how you'd think of it._ Sans replied almost instantly. _And while we're on the subject, what are you going to do with these newfangled powers of yours?_

 _I don't know. I guess I hadn't really thought about it, either._

 _you really didn't think this through, did you, kiddo? now you're gonna have a bad time._

Well, there was the simplest answer. _I don't think I'm going to kill anyone. When I was originally slaughtering everything in my path and chasing down what was left, I did really feel bad about it. Especially killing your brother, although I don't expect you to believe me._

Frisk turned to look in the mirror. The changes weren't as bad as she'd seen in her... nightmare? vision? Reality? All that happened was that her skin was a little paler, her face was a little more gaunt, and she was wearing the same blue hoodie that Sans wore.

 _no, i don't believe you, but i will accept that you won't destroy everything like last time. what i'm more concerned about is what will happen to me- the actual physical me- in this reset timeline. about half of me was thinking that when you reset you'd undo the change of absorbing my soul, but apparently such things are beyond the power to reset. what i'm concerned about is whether my physical self in this timeline will even have a soul- or if he'll just wink out of existence once he gets too close to you._

 _Well, if he does exist I have an idea that I think he'll appreciate once we're out of here._

Frisk told the Sans in her head her idea. He agreed that his physical counterpart would probably greatly appreciate its humor.

And a few teleportations later to secure the necessary items was all that was needed.

* * *

Frisk accepted the slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie from Toriel as the monster led her into the kitchen. "This may surprise you," Toriel continued, "but I have always wanted to be a teacher."

"Wow." said Frisk, deadpan. "I'd never have guessed that."

Whether Toriel didn't understand that kind of humor or simply chose to ignore it Frisk couldn't tell. Instead Toriel asked, "Are you hungry, my child? I don't think you should eat the pie right away. After all, it is dessert. However, I do have other food. Do you like snail pie?"

"I don't know, I've never tried any before." replied Frisk cautiously. _Eh, it can't hurt if I eat some. Besides, I don't want to hurt Toriel's feelings._ "But I'll try some."

 _ironic. you killed her before and now you're worried about hurting her feelings._

 _Yeah, I know, comedy, now please stop interrupting my thoughts._

 _But it's fun..._

 _Not for me. Now please kindly shut up._

 _rude. but as you wish._

Frisk ignored him and turned her attention to Toriel, who was bringing her a plate of snail pie.

"Why don't you try some and see if you like it, my child?" asked Toriel.

Frisk took an experimental bite. Surprisingly, it actually tasted pretty good.

Toriel mistook her expression for disgust and asked worriedly, "You do not dislike it, do you, my child?"

"No! It's pretty good. In fact..." Frisk grinned as Sans made a mental suggestion. "..you 'snailed' it."

It seemed that Toriel could not help herself and burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

 _see, told you she'd like it._ Sans gloated. _maybe you shouldn't tell me to shut up in the future, and i'll give you more bad puns to tell people, or possibly even sensible advice._

 _Fine. Deal._ Frisk took a few more bites of the pie as Toriel managed to control herself. "Do you want anything else, my child?"

 _ketchup._ Sans told her. _to drink. Trust me on this one._

 _What? How do you know she even has ketchup?_

Sans didn't reply.

 _Oh, god. You didn't teleport into her house and look around, did you? Please tell me you didn't._

 _whoa, hey, kid, i'm not some perverted stalker or something. i'm just a skeleton who's now reduced to a soul that's inside a human body who wants to be able to taste his favorite condiment again._

 _Fine._ "Do you have any ketchup, Mom?" Frisk asked.

"I-" Toriel stopped. "Did you just call me 'Mom?'"

Frisk nodded.

"Well... would that make you happy? To call me... Mother?"

Frisk nodded again.

"Well then. In that case, call me anything you like."

Frisk finished her snail pie. The shock of being called "Mom" seemed to have made Toriel forget about Frisk's earlier request, and so she asked again, "Mom, do you have any ketchup?"

"I think so... but why?" Toriel asked. "You have already finished your pie."

 _say you like to drink ketchup. she'll probably just call you an interesting child and hand you some ketchup. i should know, i talked with her through the door for quite a long time._

"I like to drink it." Frisk answered. _How do you know she's the same woman you were talking with through the wall? I mean, she is, but..._

 _while you were off in dreamland, i was listening to everything around me. i hijacked your newly-sharp ears and managed to overhear a conversation between myself and toriel. she's pretty concerned about you, kid, enough so that she stopped me right in the middle of one of my knock-knock jokes._

"Well, then." Toriel didn't seem to know what to say. "Very well, then. You are an... interesting child."

 _told you,_ Sans gloated as she poured some ketchup into a cup.

* * *

Already Frisk had established that she was going to be leaving. But not how she had all those other times. In restrospect, callously interrogating Toriel about how to exit the Ruins, then battling her and breaking her heart wasn't such a good idea. _Better to just sneak out, then she won't have to deal with the agony of fighting a child..._

 _or do you just not want to fight her?_

Frisk didn't answer the skeleton, instead poring over her new-found abilities. It didn't take long for her to find the perfect soundless solution: a weird, leering thing shaped like a draconic skull.

 _it's called a gaster blaster,_ Sans supplied, _and normally it's not used for flying on top of to sneak out of houses, it's used for-_

 _Yeah, I know, blowing stuff up. Remember when you used those things on me back before the reset?_

 _good times,_ Sans thought, and the two of them shared an awkward mental laugh.

It took Frisk a while to find a paper and pencil, but eventually she sat down at her bedside and wrote a simple note.

* * *

 _I'm sorry for leaving. I wish I could have stayed longer, b_ _ut this is about a bigger thing right now, the freedom of all monsters. I think I can do it, this time._

 _Please don't try to stop me. I don't want to fight anyone, least of all you._

* * *

Floating atop the "Gaster blaster," as Sans called it, was remarkably easy and certainly didn't have any air turbulence. As a bonus, it was completely soundless.

Frisk hovered down the stairs and into the hallway beyond. The skull-like thing effortlessly passed the turn and headed towards the door.

With a snap of her fingers, Frisk leaped off the blaster as it vanished. She landed quietly, but still winced at the slight noise of her shoes tapping on the floor.

Now, though, she was going to get out without-

"Stop."

Frisk turned around with a small feeling of dread in her stomach. Toriel stood there, holding the note in her hand.

"Why are you so desperate to leave that you would sneak out in the middle of the night?" Toriel asked as she crossed the room to stand between Frisk and the exit. "Is life really so bad here?" She didn't wait for a response. "You are just like all the others. Prove yourself... Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive."

 _In restrospect,_ thought Frisk, _maybe I should've just teleported._

 _i would have given you that advice,_ thought Sans with a mental sniff, _but you were blocking me out._

Frisk watched with dread as Toriel sent forth a magical fire attack. There-

 _Wait! No! I'm not helpless this time!_

Frisk raised her arms. Two Gaster blasters leered besides her. She snapped her fingers, and they formed an impregnable laser barrier in front of her, incinerating the fire. Vaguely Frisk wondered how that even worked, but she wasn't about to ask Sans.

Frisk snapped her fingers again as the attack ceased, and the two monstrous things swiveled around to loom above her. They hesitated for a moment before firing, blasting their target into dust.


	4. Exit

**A/N: Surprise, everyone! You get another chapter! (I didn't really see any point in holding it back seeing as I'd already written it.)**

 **Guest: Remember, Frisk absorbed Sans's soul before resetting.**

Smoke drifted upwards as the blasters vanished. Frisk looked forwards at Toriel, who was standing, frozen.

The doors blocking the exit from the ruins lay in dust.

 _uh, kid? why did you just blow up the doors?_

 _It was a demonstration of my power. To show her that I can take care of myself, and more importantly that I'm this world's best hope for liberation. I've done it before, it should be a pushover with my new powers._

"My... my child..." Toriel seemed confused. "Why did you miss?"

"I didn't." replied Frisk.

"Then why did you destroy the doors?"

"Do I need a reason?" Frisk responded. "Look, this is about more than just keeping me safe, Mom. This is about the future of all monsters now. I have the ability to save them, so there's no excuse for not doing so. If I could stay with you, I would, but I have to do this. Once I've destroyed the barrier, I'll come back to live with you, I promise."

"My child, you don't understand." Toriel summoned another burst of flames. "If you leave, they... Asgore... will kill you."

Frisk raised her arms, and the Gaster blasters formed the same laser barrier in front of her. "I won't let them!"

"Just because you can do..." Toriel waved a hand in the air. "...whatever you're doing... doesn't mean you can't die!"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Frisk replied, stony-faced. "I'm not going to fight you."

More flame spat forth, and again the blasters stopped the attack before they could even reach her.

"Please, Mom, just stop this." Frisk pleaded. "I'm not going to fight you. I can take care of myself. Just let me go."

"You do know, my child..." Toriel sighed. "If you use your soul to break the barrier, it will not be able to return to your body."

"You don't think I didn't plan for that?" Frisk asked, blasting away the fire. "Look, I have a plan. I know I can do this. Just stop fighting me..."

Tears began to leak from Toriel's eyes as she sent forth another attack. "Please, my child, just go upstairs."

"I can't. This is about more than my own safety." Again the fire was destroyed before it reached Frisk. "Stop fighting me, please. I'm not going to fight back."

"I know you want to go home, but... I can take care of you." Toriel sighed and let her arms fall to her sides. "I know we do not have much, but... we can have a good life here."

Frisk stood and waited patiently.

And then a hard resolve seemed to take control of Toriel. "No. I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this."

 _well, good job, kiddo. is this what you did last time?_

 _Sort of, except I didn't have any fancy powers to protect me. I had to dodge everything manually._

 _yeah, i think i knew that part..._

"My expectations... my loneliness... my fear..." Toriel sighed. "For you, my child, I shall put them aside."

Frisk sighed in relief. _It's almost exactly like before._

"If you truly wish to leave the ruins, I will not stop you." Toriel seemed hesitant as she continued. "However, when you leave... Please do not come back. I hope you understand."

 _All too well,_ Frisk thought as Toriel bent to embrace her.

"Goodbye, my child."

And then Toriel turned and left. Frisk heard her stop for a moment, and then continue.

 _well, kiddo? once you've broken the barrier, are you going to come back to live with her?_

 _Of course. I'm not one to go back on my promises._ Frisk strode forwards confidently. _You, on the other hand, aren't very good at keeping promises._

 _hey, what can I say?_ Sans asked. _you were brutally murdering every single monster in the underground._

Frisk sighed. _How many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry? Look, I reset everything, and once I've broken the barrier, if the physical you doesn't have a soul I'll separate your soul from myself and give it back. Okay?_

 _i'll believe it when it happens, kiddo._

She exited the hall.

Flowey was sitting there.

"Clever. Very clever." he sneered. "You-"

"Yeah, I know, Asriel. I was able to play by my own rules, saved a single person, what'll I do when I encounter a ruthless killer, you're the prince of this world's future, blah blah blah." Frisk sighed. "I'm not going to kill anyone, okay?"

"Hee hee hee..." Flowey sighed. "You really are an idiot, you know? I'm not Asriel. I can't feel emotion, okay? Asriel is dead, and nothing will change that."

"Yes, it can be changed." Frisk replied. "Don't you remember the past timelines?"

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm a soulless flower." replied Flowey. "I can't feel any emotion."

"Yes, you can!" shouted Frisk, even surprising herself with the intensity in her voice. "You can feel anger... fear... confusion... Right now you're feeling exasperated, aren't you, because I'm too stubborn for my own good?"

"That means nothing!" Flowey snapped.

"Yes, it does!" Frisk snapped back. "If you can feel anger and fear, who's to say you can't feel other emotions?"

"I DO." snarled the flower. "You really are an idiot, Frisk. Nothing's going to change me now, and nothing ever will. There's only futility in trying to save me."

"Why?" asked Frisk. "I managed to save everyone else in previous timelines. Why not you as well?"

"You only want to save me because I'm the last piece you need for your 'happy ending.'" Flowey replied cynically. "Why do you care, Frisk? Just leave me to my own existence, so-"

"So you can try to steal the human souls again?" Frisk asked. "Yeah, that worked out pretty well, didn't it?"

"Hah!" Flowey laughed. "Without the help of the human souls, you could NEVER have defeated me the first time. And the second time, you relied on my ability to feel emotion to defeat me. I'm not so weak this time, Frisk. You won't be able to defeat me regardless of which one I choose to do this time! Or maybe I'll do neither, just kill the king and vanish, leaving you to die at the barrier futilely trying to escape. There are so many options, after all."

Frisk sighed. "You don't understand, Asriel. Then again, why should I bother trying to explain? You'll just come up with your own excuse."

"I am not Asriel! I told you that! Asriel has been dead for a long time! Even then, it took the power of six human souls and all of the monster souls in the Underground to restore him! Do you really think having fancy powers has changed anything? No." Suddenly, Flowey turned his face away and stared at the ground. "Just go away, Frisk."

 _it's no use, kiddo._ Sans said. _actually, i'm not even sure what you were trying to accomplish there._

 _Well, it didn't work. That's the main part._ Frisk walked past Flowey and towards the exit, and everything grew bright.


	5. Disbelief

**A/N: You know, it's strange: I thought I wouldn't be updating for weeks at a time like I often have in the past (and in fact I seem to be neglecting my other fics for this one), and now, here I am, updating once every two or three days. At this rate I'll be finished by November, which is good because then I'll have time to work on National Novel Writing Month too.**

 **Disbelief: Without ruining the story, as I have it currently planned, there should be a sequel.**

 **Sans the comic:  
Ch. 1: Sans and Papyrus's bodies both manage to persist after death in genocide/neutral runs, and presumably their souls do as well. Frisk took Sans's soul in this short period of time. For the purposes of the story, I'm assuming Sans is not a human (and Toby Fox has confirmed that Sans is not Ness, so a major supporter of the Sans-is-a-human theory goes down the toilet right there).  
Ch. 4: Better than you'd expect.**

 **For reference, everyone, Sans's soul which Frisk absorbed will speak to her in italics, while the actual, physical Sans will speak in quotations.**

Behind Frisk, the doors lay in ruins from the earlier blast. Calmly she stepped forwards, then turned to the side and parted the bushes.

The camera lay there, almost silently whirring as it took in everything it saw.

"Howdy, Alphys." Frisk said to it casually. "I'm Frisk, and I'm a human. I should be up by your lab in a few hours, so if you have anything you want to put away or something, that's how long you've got."

Turning away from the camera, she stepped back onto the path and continued forwards.

 _you know, we're going to meet my alternate self in a few moments, assuming everything stays the same._ Sans said. _i just realized how completely strange that is. i mean, not too long ago, my primary objective was to kill you and stop you from implementing genocide, and now you've reset the timeline, absorbed my soul, and are basically trying to be friends with everybody. not what i expected when i woke up this morning._

 _Yeah, I know. It's going to be strange, and... maybe I should put a glove or something on just in case contact with him physically annihilates the body or something._

In a burst of heat, Frisk teleported up ahead and snatched the glove out of the box. Putting it on, she teleported back to where she had started and continued onward.

With a harsh snap of noise, Frisk heard the heavy stick smash to pieces behind her. Resisting the urge to run, she continued calmly walking forwards and stopped at the gate.

Snow crunched underfoot behind her.

"human." said the familiar voice. "don't you know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand."

Frisk turned around and held out her gloved hand. A bony hand reached out and clasped hers.

Two loud _pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft_ s split the air.

"Huh," said Frisk, holding up her gloved hand, inside of which was a DIY whoopee cushion. "Looks like we both tried to get each other with the old 'whoopee cushion in the hand' trick. Classic."

Both the physical and mental Sans burst into fits of laughter. "i'm sorry." gasped the physical Sans. "give me a moment." Once he overcame the laughter, he stood up. "i'm sorry, where were we?"

"Introductions, I think."

"right." Sans coughed into his fist. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

"I'm Frisk. Frisk the human." Frisk replied.

"well, yeah, i can see you're a human." Sans said. "technically-"

"You're supposed to be on guard duty, I guess, but you don't actually care about capturing anybody?" guessed Frisk. "I can tell by the giant smile."

"well, yeah." Sans only seemed mildly perturbed by Frisk's quick guess. "but my brother, papyrus, he's a human-hunting fanatic." Then, as if it had suddenly occurred to him, "hey, i have an idea. go right through this gate thingy."

"Bars are too wide to stop anybody." observed Frisk as she stepped through and walked past it.

"quick," Sans said, "behind that conveniently-shaped lamp."

 _holy crap,_ Sans giggled, _i just realized how insane all of this must have been to you the first time you did this._

 _Yeah, I was scared, but it was... better than the surface._ Frisk didn't elaborate as she walked over behind the lamp.

Footfalls told her Papyrus was approaching. Watching from her position behind the lamp, she observed him stride confidently into the clearing.

"'sup, bro?" asked Sans.

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP, BROTHER!" Papyrus replied. "IT'S BEEN-"

At this point, Frisk squeezed the whoopee cushion as hard as she could. A loud _pfffffffft_ echoed through the clearing.

"SANS." Papyrus looked around, confused. "WHAT WAS THAT FLATULENT NOISE?"

"i dunno, bro." Sans looked around as if he had no idea.

Frisk compressed the whoopee cushion again.

 _Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"SANS! WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM?" Papyrus shouted.

"gee, i don't know." Despite the fact that he wasn't doing anything in particular, Sans seemed to be enjoying himself.

 _Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"YOU DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU, SANS?"

 _Pffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"no, actually, i didn't." Sans grinned. "but whoever's doing seems to be doing so... _to their fart's content_."

 _Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"SAAAAAAANS!" Papyrus yelled.

 _Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"what? come on, you found that one... _humerus_."

 _Pffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"NO, I DID NOT, SANS! IT WAS AWFUL LIKE ALL OF YOUR OTHER PUNS!"

 _Pffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"come on, bro. if you're going to pretend you hate my jokes, put a little more.. _. backbone_ into it."

 _Pfffffffffffffffffffffft._

 _i think you should stop now, kiddo. or else we'll be stuck behind here all day while physical-me cracks bad jokes._

 _Good point._ Frisk wound up and chucked the whoopee cushion at the ground between the two skeleton brothers.

"SANS! THIS WHOOPEE CUSHION CAME FLYING OUT FROM BEHIND THAT LAMP!"

"huh. i wonder how it did that. certainly couldn't've been the catapult mechanism i installed in it, because i never did such thing."

"OKAY, BROTHER. I BELIEVE YOU." Papyrus turned around. "I SHALL LEAVE NOW, BEFORE YOU TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE MORE BAD PUNS. THAT, AND BECAUSE I TOTALLY FORGOT WHY I CAME HERE. SEE YOU LATER, BROTHER! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

As Papyrus's footfalls faded into the distance, Sans turned to the conveniently-shaped lamp. "ok, kiddo, you can come out now."

Frisk stepped out from behind the lamp and picked up the whoopee cushion. Brushing the snow off of it, she commented, "Never know when you'll need a whoopee cushion, you know?"

"i'm more interested with the whoopee cushion thing." Sans said. "i mean, it was funny and all, but why? you know my bro could've caught you if it hadn't been for my amazing acting skills."

"Oh, come on, Papyrus is a big softie. He'd never hurt anybody intentionally." Frisk remarked, slipping the whoopee cushion into her pocket. "Besides, he- Aah!" As she turned, Frisk slipped on the snow and fell on her side. "Ow! Damn!"

"Here, let me help you there, kiddo." Sans held out a hand, and Frisk reached up to take it.

 _no! stop!_

Too late, Frisk realized she was using her uncovered hand as Sans took it.

 _aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_

A burst of light exploded outwards from the contact, temporarily blinding Frisk. When her vision came back, the wisecracking skeleton had been reduced to a pile of charred dust.

 _aaaaaaaaahhhh!_ screamed Sans. _that hurt more than anything i've ever experienced. what happened, kiddo? i can't see anything... or hear anything, as a matter of fact._

Frisk stared in shock at the pile of dust replacing the skeleton who in another timeline had been her friend.

"SANS! WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?" called a voice, and Frisk turned around to see Papyrus behind her. "I-" His voice broke off. "OHO! A HUMAN! CONGRATULATIONS, BROTHER, YOU HAVE FOUND A HUMAN! WHEN I BECOME A ROYAL GUARD, I WILL MAKE SURE TO-" Papyrus stopped.

Staring at the pile of dust.

"BROTHER...?" Papyrus whispered. He stood and shouted out, "SANS, THIS PRANK IS NOT FUNNY! COME OUT RIGHT NOW OR NO KETCHUP FOR A WEEK!"

"Papyrus, I'm sorry!" Frisk burst out. "I didn't mean to-"

Papyrus turned to glare at her. "HUMAN! DID YOU DO THIS!"

"Yes, but it was an accident! I'm so sorry!" cried Frisk.

"YOU... YOU!" Papyrus's features contorted into an expression Frisk had never seen on them before.

 _Hate._

"YOU DIRTY BROTHER KILLER."

Papyrus's eyes burst into orange light. "HUMAN. ALLOW ME TO PROPERLY INTRODUCE MYSELF. I AM PAPYRUS THE SKELETON, SOON-TO-BE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD..."

His eye sockets became as dark as craters in the moon.

"AND YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE."

 _you better not try to kill him, or I'LL take control,_ threatened Sans.

 _Why would I try to kill him? He's right; this was my fault. I should've come up with a way to cover both hands or something._ Frisk tore her glove off and cast it aside. _I won't fight back._

 _you'll die then._

 _It's nothing less than what I deserve._ Frisk stood still as Papyrus raised his hand high. Smoke leaked from his eye as he brought his hand down, and a barrage of bones slammed forwards.

Frisk did nothing to stop the onslaught like she had with Toriel. Calmly she stood still and let every single one of them hit her.

"WELL, HUMAN? WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?" shouted Papyrus with rage as he readied another bombardment.

"I'm sorry." whispered Frisk as the bones slammed into her.

 _This is what I deserve._ Frisk thought as her soul shattered into pieces.


	6. Continue

**A/N: Just in case you guys didn't know this, judging by a few clues in Undertale (for instance, the art club that So Sorry is late for) the events of Undertale take place in early-to-mid October. So keep that in mind while you're reading.**

Music played in the darkness as haunting voices echoed, speaking solemnly. Unlike how things were normally, Frisk couldn't make out any voices, just varied, mumbled tones.

︎ ︎✌︎❄︎ ︎✌︎💧︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎👎︎✍︎

 _What was that?_

💧︎ ︎💣︎ ︎❄︎ ︎✋︎ ︎ ︎ ︎✌︎💧︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎👎︎📬︎

Frisk couldn't see much of anything. Dark spots floated in her vision. And yet... she felt something. Something curious.

❄︎ ︎✋︎💧︎ ✌︎ ︎ ︎💣︎✌︎ ︎✡︎ ✋︎💧︎ ✌︎ ︎ ︎💣︎✌︎ ︎📬︎📬︎📬︎

Frisk forced herself to open her eyes. The void was still there, but something was glowing. It was as if there was a doorway, through which Frisk could see blurred shapes.

Then the doorway seemed to multiply, and with a gasp Frisk realized what she was seeing.

👍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎👎︎ ✋︎❄︎ 👌︎ ︎✍︎

It was many different versions of... herself.

✡︎ ︎💧︎📪︎ ❄︎ ︎ ︎✡︎ ︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ︎✡︎ ❄︎ ︎✋︎ ❄︎ ︎ ︎✡︎ 👍︎✌︎ ︎ 💧︎ ︎ ︎✞︎ ︎ ✋︎❄︎ ❄︎ ︎✌︎❄︎ ︎✌︎✡︎📬︎

And all of them were different.

👍︎ ︎💣︎👌︎✋︎ ︎✋︎ ︎ ︎ ✌︎ ︎ ︎💣︎✌︎ ︎ ✌︎ ︎👎︎ 💣︎ ︎ ︎💧︎❄︎ ︎ ︎ 💧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎📬︎📬︎📬︎

Some were boys, some were girls, and everything in between. They were tall, short, and medium-sized, and of all ages.

︎✋︎👎︎✋︎👍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎💧︎📬︎ ︎✋︎👎︎✋︎👍︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎💧︎📬︎👎︎ ︎ ︎ ︎❄︎ ❄︎ ︎ ︎✡︎ ︎ ︎✌︎ ︎✋︎ ︎ ︎ ❄︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎👍︎❄︎💧︎ ❄︎ ︎✌︎❄︎ ✋︎❄︎ ︎✋︎ ︎ ︎ ︎✌︎✞︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ❄︎ ︎ ︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎ ︎ ︎✋︎ ︎ ︎✍︎

All of the alternate Frisks, seen from her position, seemed to form a face. Something about it disturbed Frisk.

︎✞︎ ︎ ︎✡︎❄︎ ︎✋︎ ︎ ︎ 💧︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎👎︎ 💧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎

But there was just one difference between them and her.

💧︎ ︎ ︎ ︎ ︎✌︎ ︎ ︎✡︎ ✋︎💧︎ ✌︎ ︎ ✋︎👎︎✋︎ ︎❄︎📬︎

None of them had absorbed a monster soul.

The distorted garbling in the void stopped as Frisk looked down at her soul. It pulsated gently, almost imperceptibly, and within it was the stark white of a monster soul.

 _Sans's soul._

 _hey, kiddo, you ready to go back? try everything all over again?_

 _Yes. Yes, I am._

* * *

CONTINUE

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, all of the random disjointed Wingdings text was intentional.**


	7. Change

**A/N: I know the last chapter wasn't much of a chapter so much as half-random void stuff and half-random Wingdings, so here's another chapter just because I'm nice.**

Frisk stood at the box, glove on her hand. The lid swung closed in front of her.

 _why did we come back to here?_

 _I'm not sure. But it doesn't matter, does it? We can just pick up where we left off._ Heat sparked around her as she teleported back to the forest.

Sans's footprints crunched in the snow behind her as she came up to the gateway.

"human."

Frisk immediately spun around. "Howdy, Sans." She held out her hand, and with a questioning look in his eyes Sans took it.

 _Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft._

"Huh," Frisk held up her hand. "We both tried the 'whoopee-cushion-in-the-hand' trick on each other at the same time."

Just as before, Sans fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Yet Frisk didn't even smile, her mind fixated on Sans's grin as he reached to help her up... and then his charred dust swirling in the wind, and Papyrus's anguished attack.

Sans must have seen something in her eyes, because he asked gently, "Hey, kiddo, is something the matter?"

"No." Frisk said, and then amended her statement, "Nothing you can help with, anyway."

"okay." Sans didn't press it, although there was a small amount of questioning in his eye sockets. "anyway, you're a human, right? that's hilarious."

Frisk already knew what he was going to say, and tuned him out.

 _not very nice, kid._

 _What can I say? It's a little boring._

 _you're boring. at any rate, you can't ignore what people are saying just because you think you know what they're going to say._

"hey! kid, you listening to me? we're heading up ahead!"

Frisk snapped out of her semi-trance. "Yeah. Sure."

Trying hard to concentrate as she walked forward, Frisk was embroiled with panic. _What do I do to make sure that doesn't happen again? Even if I don't trip this time, I could just-_

 _hey. relax, okay? everything's going to be okay._

 _No! No, it won't!_

"quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp." Sans said.

Obediently Frisk walked over to the lamp. Strangely, she felt as if she was moving on autopilot, like she wasn't controlling herself anymore.

Almost in a trance, she listened to Papyrus's footfalls, his monologue about his hopes and dreams, interrupted occasionally by one of Sans's bad puns.

 _uh, frisk? you okay?_

 _I don't know. I don't know anything anymore._

"okay, you can come out now."

But Frisk stayed in place behind the lamp. It was strange, like her legs had locked up, her arms pinned to her sides, and her jaw been wired shut.

"hey! kid! can you hear me? you can come out now." Sans said.

The ceiling of the cavern suddenly seemed to tilt above her as everything faded.

* * *

Frisk heard a sound like wind, but intermixed with something else... laughter?

In the darkness, a voice sounded, speaking in a language she'd never heard before.

Her eyes flickered open. Two faces swirled above her, one concerned and one triumphant.

She closed her eyes.

* * *

Frisk opened her eyes. The snow whirled past beneath her. Something had a grip on her ankles, and something else was supporting the weight of her upper body.

"Huh? What?" Frisk flailed for a moment before falling face-first into the snow.

"OHO!" a familiar voice cried out. "THE HUMAN AWAKES!"

"hey, take it easy, papyrus. kid's probably chilled to the bone."

"SANS, I SHALL MAKE NO COMMENT ON THAT."

"look, if the human freezes to death, you won't be able to take her to undyne."

"HMM. YOU DO MAKE A GOOD POINT, BROTHER. I KNOW WHAT WILL BRING THEM BACK TO NORMAL- HOME-COOKED SPAGHETTI! I WILL MAKE SURE TO PREPARE SOME IMMEDIATELY!"

Strong arms gripped Frisk and lifted her off the ground. "take it easy, kid. everything's gonna be okay, alright?" then, quieter, "your soul won't be taken." A small hesitation. "i promise."

Everything faded again.


	8. Timeline

**A/N: I'm quite surprised by how quickly I'm updating this. (It's probably because I basically have all the chapters written already in my head.)**

 **Also, we've passed 2,000 views on this story. I wonder if we can reach 10,000...**

"HUMAN?"

Frisk blinked. There was something soft under her, but something hard was digging into her back, too.

"AH, YOU ARE AWAKE, HUMAN!" Papyrus was holding something in his hands. "YOU WERE NOT LOOKING WELL, AND YOU MUST BE IN PERFECT HEALTH WHEN YOU ARE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! SO I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME HOME-COOKED SPAGHETTI FOR YOU!"

"Gee, thanks, Papyrus." Frisk managed to pull herself upright. _I'm on the couch at Sans and Papyrus's house. Why am I here, anyway? Isn't he going to give me puzzles or something before this?_ Accepting the plate, she ate on autopilot as her thoughts processed rapidly, barely even noticing the indescribable taste of the spaghetti. "Why'd you bring me back to your house, though? Aren't you going to give me puzzles or something?"

"OH, NO! I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THE PUZZLES!" Papyrus genuinely looked panicked as he called up the stairs, "SANS! I FORGOT TO GIVE THE HUMAN PUZZLES!"

"so take her back out and give her the puzzles there," came the lazy response.

"WHY CAN'T YOU HELP ME WITH THIS, BROTHER? HUMANS ARE HEAVY, YOU KNOW! WHAT IF SHE DECIDES TO TAKE ANOTHER NAP ON THE WAY?"

"too lazy. you're on your own, bro."

"SANS, YOU HAD BETTER NOT FALL ASLEEP AGAIN!"

Gentle snoring was the only response.

"SANS, YOU'RE MAKING ME LOOK BAD IN FRONT OF THE HUMAN!"

In Frisk's head, Sans couldn't stop laughing. _holy crap, kiddo, i seriously can't believe physical-me just did that._

 _You know, Sans, this time around I'd like to do the puzzles without having the solution ruined for me each time. You think you can help with that?_

 _too lazy. you're on your own, kiddo._

 _Sans, you better not do what I think you're going to do!_

 _zzzzzzzz._

 _I know you're not actually sleeping. You're just saying "z" over and over again._

 _zzzzzz. no i'm not, this is how i sleep. zzzzzzzz._

 _Sans..._

 _zzzzz._

 _Fine, then, I'll stab your brother with my stick._

Sans was "awake" almost instantly. _you're gonna have a bad time, kid!_

 _There, that got you to pay attention._ Frisk ignored the next thing Sans said, and there's no point in writing what he said, anyway, as it would have to be censored.

"HUMAN! YOU WILL NOW DO MY PUZZLES! THEY ARE-"

"Actually, I know where the puzzles are, I saw them." Frisk interrupted the skeleton. "You can go and get them ready, I know a shortcut."

* * *

"Oh, hello." Frisk said casually as Papyrus approached. "I've been waiting for five minutes."

"WOWIE! YOU MUST REALLY CARE ABOUT PUZZLES TO BE ABLE TO WAIT THAT LONG JUST SO I CAN COME ALONG TO WATCH!"

"It's an invisible electricity maze, isn't it?" Frisk asked. "I've seen this type of puzzle before. One false step and I'll get zapped by that orb you're holding."

"INDEED! I AM IMPRESSED, HUMAN!" Papyrus looked back at the sound of crunching snow as Sans appeared. "OH, HELLO, SANS. SO YOU DECIDED TO COME AFTER ALL?"

"what else is there to do?" Sans shrugged. "this is the most exciting thing that's happened around here for quite some time."

"Hey, uh, Papyrus?" Frisk asked, breaking into the conversation. "Shouldn't I have to hold that orb?"

"WHY, SO YOU SHOULD, HUMAN! THANK YOU FOR REMINDING ME." Papyrus sped through the maze and threw the orb up in the air, then went right back the way he came. The orb came to rest on her head.

 _Now it's time to use my powers again._ Frisk closed her eyes and reached out with her other senses. The walls of the maze were there, after all. They just couldn't be seen.

But she could hear them, with their gentle vibrating noise. If she inhaled hard enough, she could smell the acrid ozone odor that they gave off. And that was all she needed.

Frisk opened her eyes again, one blazing to life with blue flame. "Let's do this."

Calmly she stepped forwards. No doubt was present in her mind as she turned and walked between the two walls.

 _On second thought, I should get myself zapped once or twice just so poor Papyrus doesn't think his puzzle is ineffective._ Purposely taking a wrong turn, Frisk felt the electricity as it snapped through her body and quickly turned the other way. _On third thought, once is enough._

Frisk exited the electricity maze and turned to face the two skeleton brothers. The fire in her eye died. "That was fun." she said calmly. "What's next?"

"YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus turned around and raced off, presumably to the next puzzle.

Frisk began to follow him, but stopped at a cold voice.

"kid, what the hell was that?"

Sans's hollow eye sockets seemed to bore into her soul, searching out the answer.

 _okay, take it easy, kid. i know myself like i know myself, and for now you just need to take it easy. play stupid, pretend you don't know what's going on. if he thinks you genuinely don't know you have powers, maybe he'll see you less as a possible timeline anomaly and more as someone who doesn't know what's going on here._

 _Roger._ "What are you talking about?" Frisk asked, doing her best to eliminate the quaver in her voice.

"what you just did there?" Sans waved a hand at the maze. "I saw it in your eyes. You knew exactly where to go without any guide whatsoever."

"No, I didn't!" argued Frisk. "It was just luck! You saw how I made a misstep there."

"that was intentional." Sans replied. "i saw it in your eyes. you deliberately turned and walked into the wall on purpose. why are you doing this? who are you? what are you?"

 _frisk, i have a feeling you're about to make a really bad decision. i'm warning you, kid, don't do it..._

 _Relax, if anything goes wrong I can just reload the world._

 _frisk, you shouldn't regard your ability as the cure-all it's not._

 _Quiet! I've got this!_

"You want to know what I am?" Frisk snarled. "Fine, then. Just don't say I didn't warn you." Her eye burst back into flame. "I am the legendary fartmaster."

Sans burst into laughter. "why would you say something like that about yourself, kid? seriously."

"Because you told me to in another timeline."

 _you just messed up, kid. now physical-me's going to... hell, how should i know what he's going to do? i'm going to curl up in the corner and die._

Sans was silent.

 _why, frisk. why couldn't you save this conversation for later?_

 _Hey, I took your soul... his soul... in another timeline. Obviously I'm not going to tell him that, but he deserves to know the truth._

"so." Sans turned away, then faced back to her. "that would explain some things... but it won't explain your powers."

"That's even worse." Frisk sighed. "You _really_ don't want to know how I have them. You understand what I'm saying?"

"sort of." Sans didn't seem surprised, if anything it seemed an anticlimax. "i'm going to go to grillby's. once you're done papyrus's puzzles go there. we have some things we need to discuss."

Sans vanished right in front of her, and Frisk turned her mind to more important business: puzzles.


	9. Conversation

**A/N: The last part of this chapter might seem a little weird/OOC, but just bear with me here, okay? It's going to be very important to the plot.**

"AH! THERE YOU ARE, HUMAN!"

 _i don't know if teleporting ahead to the puzzle was such a good idea, considering that you basically tipped off physical-me that you're a time-traveller, he'll be able to figure out the rest._

 _Quiet! It's puzzle time!_

"MY BROTHER MADE THIS PUZZLE... IT APPEARS TO BE A WORD SEARCH. I WONDER HOW YOU WILL FARE?"

 _Okay, I'm actually going to make an effort this time instead of just walking past it like before._ Frisk picked up the paper and set to finding all the words. It wasn't actually all that difficult, and she was done in under a minute.

"WHAT? YOU GOT PAST IT?" Papyrus quickly regained his composure. "NYEH! I WILL BE SURE TO TELL SANS THAT HIS PUZZLES ARE INEFFECTIVE!" The skeleton raced off again.

The next room contained a plate of spaghetti and an unplugged microwave.

 _Right, I remember this part._ Ignoring the note, Frisk reached for the plate, but then decided against it. _I'd like to avoid experiencing frostbite, thank you very much._ Instead, she summoned a set of bones. They slid underneath the plate and lifted it off the table.

 _kid, what're you doing with my bro's spaghetti?_

 _Well, you've got access to my thoughts. Why don't you look at my master plan?_ Frisk snapped her fingers, and she vanished with the spaghetti.

Reappearing in a secluded corner of the forest, Frisk inspected the spaghetti. _If I do this right, Papyrus won't even notice._ Frisk raised her hand, and a Gaster blaster appeared above it. It blasted suddenly, but Frisk concentrated the beam for heat and managed to bring the pasta up to room temperature. _Just a little more..._

Slowly the spaghetti became hot.

"There." Satisfied, Frisk rubbed the bottom of the plate in the snow to cool it off and teleported again.

Confidently Frisk walked over the X's and heard them click as they changed. Then she walked over and stepped on the button, and the spikes retracted.

Papyrus jumped at the sound and turned around. "HEY! HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP? AND MORE IMPORTANTLY... IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?"

"I ate it all." Frisk replied. "It was delicious. However, I decided that I couldn't just take advantage of your kindness. So, I made some spaghetti for you in return." Hesitantly she held out the plate. _I hope he won't be able to recognize it as his own work..._

Papyrus became teary-eyed as he reached out for the plate. "YOU MADE SOME SPAGHETTI... JUST FOR ME? WOWIE... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YOU ARE SO KIND, HUMAN! AND YOU EVEN MADE IT JUST HOW I LIKE IT!"

Frisk nodded in satisfaction and waited politely for Papyrus to finish fawning over the spaghetti. It was awhile.

"ANYWAY..." Papyrus coughed, "THIS IS THE PUZZLE, BUT... HOW TO SAY THIS... YOU WERE TAKING A WHILE TO ARRIVE, SO I DECIDED TO REARRANGE IT TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. HOWEVER, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND, AND NOW I DON'T KNOW THE SOLUTION."

"Okay, then!" Frisk interrupted him. "I'll just figure it out myself."

 _seriously, kid?_

 _What?_ Frisk stepped on the various X's in the puzzle.

Sans didn't respond. _forget it._

Frisk stepped on the final button, and the spikes retracted.

"WOWIE... YOU MANAGED TO GET THROUGH WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! YOU MUST REALLY CARE ABOUT PUZZLES, HUMAN! I WILL BE UP AHEAD! THERE ARE STILL MORE PUZZLES FOR YOU TO GET THROUGH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Papyrus raced off towards the next puzzle.

 _starting to get tired of puzzles yet?_

 _Actually, yes._ Frisk followed the skeleton towards the second-to-last puzzle. _Mainly, I'm impatient to see what physical-you knows... and what he'll do._

 _i don't know, kiddo. any chance of me knowing is off the table right now._

Frisk looked at the Mettaton-shaped box on the other side of the puzzle, then at Papyrus, standing triumphantly beside it. "HUMAN!" he shouted. "THIS IS THE COLORED TILE MAZE, CREATED BY THE BRILLIANT DR. ALPHYS! YOU SEE THOSE TILES?"

As before, Frisk basically tuned him out.

 _seriously, what if the solution isn't obvious this time?_

 _I can teleport through it, I guess._

 _that's cheating..._

 _Oh, like you wouldn't do the same, lazybones._

"AND ONE FINAL THING!" Papyrus continued triumphantly. "WHEN I FLIP THIS SWITCH, THE PUZZLE CREATED WILL BE COMPLETELY RANDOM! NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION!"

The colored tiles began to flicker more rapidly back and forth until-

Just as before, they settled into a pink strip with two red strips along each side.

Papyrus left without saying a word.

 _I don't think Papyrus will be waiting at the next puzzle; he wasn't any of the other times, so I can probably safely teleport to Grillby's._

With a surge of heat, Frisk found herself in the doorway of the small-town bar. Sans was sitting at the bar holding a bottle of ketchup, and as she walked towards him he tilted it back and drank deeply.

"Howdy, Sans." Frisk said as she came up behind him.

"you sure got here fast." the wisecracking skeleton commented.

"I took a shortcut." Frisk hopped up on the stool next to him and didn't elaborate.

 _make sure not to mess this up, frisk. or else you'll just alienate physical-me even more._

 _Don't worry. I know what I'm doing._

Sans finished off the ketchup, then set the empty bottle down on the table and asked, "you want anything to eat, kid?"

"Sure." Frisk replied casually. "I'll have a burger."

"hey, that sounds pretty good." Sans tapped the bartop with a single bony finger. "grillby, we'll have a double order of burg."

The bartender nodded and headed through the back door.

"so, listen, kid." Sans sighed. "you've already told me that you're a time traveller. but... how exactly do you do it?"

"It's my soul." Frisk replied. "I have enough determination that I have the ability to reset the timeline and return to points where I've 'saved' it."

"okay, sounds simple enough." Sans scratched the back of his skull with a fork. "thing is, though... this isn't the first time, is it? otherwise, you wouldn't have known my codeword."

Frisk nodded. "The only reason I found out your codeword was curiosity. The same reason why I've reset the timeline again and again. I was curious as to what would happen if I did something differently. In that case, I was curious to find out the truth... and I did."

"okay." Sans didn't seemed perturbed by this. "but... what where you curious about? what was the driving force behind any of it?"

"At first, I kept doing the same thing over and over again, resetting the timeline and then coming back. There was... some unfinished business I had to attend to. But the thing was, I couldn't. Even with my determination. Even with a powerful soul. I couldn't... do what I was trying to do. Out of frustration, I tried again and again, but still it didn't work." Frisk pulled the folds of her hoodie more tightly around herself. "It was curiosity born of spite, I suppose. Spite for the timeline, for the limitations of my own soul. I did some bad things, Sans, I won't lie to you about that."

"back up a moment." Sans raised a finger. "what was this 'unfinished business' you were trying so hard to fix?"

"That's for me to know and you to not know." Frisk replied evenly. Yet, even as she refused Sans's query, the memory surfaced. Eyes full of pain as a simple question was asked... and she was filled with determination to set things right.

"well, then, what did you do afterwards?" Footsteps interrupted him, and Sans looked up as Grillby approached with two plates. "here comes the grub." the skeleton said amiably. As soon as Grillby had left, Sans turned back to Frisk. "what were you going to say?"

Frisk picked up her burger and took a bite, but it tasted like ash, so she put it back down. "It's best summed up by something somebody told me in one of the more recent timelines. 'I've read every book, and I've burned every book. I've won every game, and I've lost every game.'" Frisk sighed and looked down at her feet. "I saved everyone..." Her voice trailed off. " _And I killed everyone._ "

Sans flinched away from her. "everyone?"

"It was the final spiteful attack on the timeline. At first it was just curiosity, or at least that's what I told myself. I told myself that it wasn't real, that I could just reset any time I wanted to. Except I didn't." Frisk's voice became shaky. "Even now I still feel bad about it, Sans. I doubt that there will be a single night in the future when I'm not kept awake by what I've done. I kept telling myself that I would reset the instant it was over, that I had just... well, that doesn't matter much. The point is, I was becoming something that I had never even wanted to. But, after killing almost everyone... the hatred that everyone looked at me with... I realized how much simple things like a single person can change the timeline. I kept holding it down, trying to keep who I really was hidden until it was almost too late."

"but obviously something happened to make you reset again, or none of us would be here right now." Sans's skeletal visage was still twisted into an expression of shock. "what was it?"

"You." Frisk replied. "You came to try to stop me towards the very end. At first I thought you were just being stupid. There were barely any monsters left in the underground, what was the point? But that was when I realized... it didn't matter to you. They were still alive and needed to be protected. But I kept it down, kept it suppressed, and it wasn't until I struck a fatal blow that I realized what I'd done." Frisk shook her head. "The point is, I reset the timeline, and if everything works like I hope it will, I'll never reset again."

"but what about those powers of yours? huh? what about that?"

Frisk's expression grew cold. "You _really_ don't want to know how I got them. Trust me when I tell you that, Sans." She slid off of the barstool and turned to face Sans. "Well, I've gotta go. There's a lot of things I need to take care of if this timeline is going to work like planned. Take care of yourself, okay?"

She teleported out of the bar, heat bursting around her. And again, the voice echoed in her head, asking the question she knew she'd never be able to answer honestly, the reason she'd reset so many times.

 _"Frisk... don't you have anything better to do?"_

"Not this time, I don't." Frisk growled between clenched teeth. "This time, I know what to do."


	10. Fall

**A/N: Many of my readers have begun speculation on what Frisk will do with her new powerful soul. While you're all free to make your guesses about my plot, please don't let your theories cloud your perception of the story, or you may miss some important points.**

 **Also, we're almost to 4,000 views! I'm pretty impressed.**

Heat flared around her as Frisk teleported ahead. Just as before, Papyrus was waiting for her.

"HUMAN."

Frisk stood still calmly and stared at his empty eyesockets as he continued.

"ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE... THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER PASTA LOVER. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER'S PUZZLE-SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS... THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW!"

She stood coldly. Impassively. Waiting for him to continue.

"AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON'T EVER WONDER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO NOT HAVE FRIENDS. LONELY HUMAN... I PITY YOU... WELL, WORRY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND!"

She didn't say a word. Her eyes narrowed to slits, waiting for him to continue, to say that he couldn't be her friend and had to capture her to become a royal guard.

"THE THING IS, HUMAN... I ALMOST DID NOT MAKE THIS OFFER. I..." Papyrus's voice faltered. "I ALMOST LET MY DESIRE TO BECOME A ROYAL GUARD CLOUD MY VISION. BUT THEN I REALIZED, HUMAN... YOU REALLY DO WANT TO BE MY FRIEND. TO BE EVERYONE'S FRIEND. THE EASE WITH WHICH YOU SOLVED MY PUZZLES... THE FACT THAT YOU MADE SPAGHETTI FOR ME... I SAW WHAT A CARING, DECENT INDIVIDUAL YOU ARE."

 _So his perception was changed, all because the only thing I did differently was heat up his own spaghetti and feed it to him?_ Frisk thought. _Poor, naive, adorable Papyrus... He really does just want to be everyone's friend._

 _well, of course. haven't you been paying attention?_

 _Well, yeah, but in all the hundreds of times I reset and did everything again, I... I might have gone a little crazy, trying to remember the order in which I did everything, and when I killed everyone scoured most of that clean._

"SO, THEREFORE, HUMAN, I SHALL LET YOU PASS. AND FEEL FREE TO COME BY MY HOUSE ANY TIME TO HANG OUT!"

"I have an idea!" Frisk exclaimed cheerily. "Why don't we meet up at your boss Undyne's house sometime and hang out with her?"

"NYEH! THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA, HUMAN! HERE'S HOW TO GET TO UNDYNE'S HOUSE: GO THROUGH THE REST OF WATERFALL- THE AREA AFTER THIS- UNTIL YOU REACH AN AREA WITH-"

Frisk tuned him out, as she always did. She already knew how to get to Undyne's house, anyway.

 _small problem, kiddo._ Sans piped up. _she's still going to try to kill you. and i think you've successfully alienated physical-me; he's probably not going to appear again until that golden hallway at New Home._

 _Physical-you's the least of my problems right now._ Frisk responded. _Besides, in this timeline I haven't killed anyone, and if my plan works out like I hope it will I'll never reset again._

 _so, what_ is _your plan, anyway? i can understand being vague with physical-me, but seriously, our souls are basically tethered together. you can't get much closer than that._

 _I need to save someone who was lost long ago._

 _who?_ Sans briefly trawled through her memories and found what he was looking for pretty quickly. _uh, he's been dead... no, worse than dead... for a long time. plus, in multiple other timelines he absorbed everyone's souls._

 _It was the only way he could come back. Anyway, it's not like I'll let him keep- Oh, Papyrus is talking._

"WE'LL MEET UP AT UNDYNE'S HOUSE!" Papyrus finished cheerfully. "I'M SURE YOU'LL BE THE BEST OF FRIENDS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" The skeleton ran away back in the direction of his house.

Frisk continued onward- and stopped.

Right on the division between Snowdin and Waterfall, someone was standing.

No, not standing. _Rooted_ might be a better term, except it didn't really work in this context.

"Well, well, well." Flowey snickered. "You really haven't learned a thing, have you? You gain these great powers and you don't use them?"

Frisk felt frozen. _He's never come up here before!_

"You really are an idiot, Frisk." Suddenly the flower looked sad. "Just leave me alone, Frisk. In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"You know that isn't true, Asriel." Frisk managed. "I saved you before and I can do it again."

"No, you can't." sneered Flowey. "Not unless you'd like me to keep everyone's souls FOREVER."

"There are... other ways." she replied in a measured, collected voice.

"No, there aren't!" Flowey shouted. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP COMING BACK?! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M FINE BEING THIS WAY!"

"No, you aren't!" Frisk shouted back. "I know you aren't! I can see the pain in your eyes!"

"JUST STOP IT, FRISK!"

"No."

Flowey lowered his face, then suddenly vanished into the earth.

Confused, Frisk walked forward into Waterfall. _Why is he so opposed to coming back? Isn't that all he ever wanted, to be able to have a soul again?_

 _jeez, kid, you really don't understand, do you?_

 _Huh? What're you talking about?_

 _figure it out on your own._

 _Well..._ Frisk stopped for a moment. _He said in previous timelines that he doesn't want his parents to see him like this. Even then, how Asgore and Toriel would react to seeing him like this..._

 _good. keep going._

 _What, that's not all?_

 _no, there's more._

 _What?_

 _i'm surprised you can't see, kid._

 _Dammit, Sans, tell me what you mean!_

Sans didn't respond.

Continuing forward, Frisk stepped into the area with the red fish monster and the monster kid. They were still there, and so was Sans's booth, but Sans himself was gone.

"Huh." Frisk walked behind it. Like the station in Snowdin, there were bottles of condiments inside.

"Well, I guess he won't mind." Frisk grabbed a bottle of ketchup and stuffed it in her pocket, then continued up ahead.

There was the tall grasses, where she'd hidden to listen to Papyrus's report so many times before. But this time, neither Papyrus nor Undyne was here.

"What?" Frisk frowned, looking up. "Why aren't they here?" Snapping her fingers, she teleported up to the top of the outcropping. "Wh-"

An energy spear flew through the air and impaled itself between her feet. "What the hell?" Frisk shouted, snatching up the spear and hefting it. It was one of Undyne's.

"Why's she-"

And then she stalked forth from the shadows,wearing her full armor, hair swirling from beneath like a long, elaborate feather.

"Seven. That is the number of human souls we need to break the barrier."

Frisk gripped the spear more tightly. She could feel power thrumming from it.

"Six," Undyne continued. "That is how many we have collected thus far. Understand, human? Give up your soul now. This is your only chance for redemption."

"Well," Frisk said casually, "thanks for the offer, Undyne, but I think I'd like to hang on to it. Gotten kind of fond of it over the twelve years I've had it, you know? I mean, how'd you like it if I strode in here and demanded your soul?"

Undyne breathed heavily, showing she didn't appreciate sarcasm. "Prepare to die, human."

And as Frisk turned around, hoping that maybe she'd see a way out, she saw Sans standing off to the side. He winked at her, then melted into the shadows.

 _Sans... betrayed me? But why?_

 _he knows what you did. of course he'll tell undyne what to do._

 _Great._ Grim determination showed on Frisk's face as she lifted the spear and turned back to Undyne, her every cell pulsing with it.

"I don't want to fight you, Undyne." Frisk said. "You don't know what power I have. I don't want to hurt you, or worse yet kill you. Please just leave me alone."

"Why would I ever do that?!" Undyne snarled. "Do you really expect me to believe you're that strong? You're just a child!"

"Fine, then!" Frisk shouted back. "Go ahead, then, Undyne! Hit me with everything you've got!"

"Gladly."

Hell began.


	11. Betrayal

**A/N: Yeah, at the rate I'm updating this will be done by early November. I hope you guys are fine with the quick updates.**

 **Bergentruckung: You think about it.**

Glowing energy spears launched at Frisk from every possible direction. An insane animal scream boiling in her insides, Frisk swung around and lashed out with her own spear, smashing into them.

Yet a few made it past her defenses, and Frisk let out small whimpers of pain with each impact. Yet even then, it didn't do as much damage as it would have prior to the absorption of Sans's soul, the power in her soul multiplied twentyfold.

 _still, don't get cocky, kid. you're still mortal, and can be defeated._

 _You think I forgot that?_

The continuous cycle of spears concluded, and Undyne eyed Frisk with something bordering on respect. "Not bad, human. Barely a scratch. But much worse will be done if you don't give up your soul now!"

"Undyne, please," Frisk held the spear closer to her body. "I don't want to fight you..."

"Of course you don't," Undyne sneered. "I'd be surprised if you did!"

"Fine, then." Frisk narrowed her eyes. She could feel her soul pulsing within her, glowing brighter. "It seems I have no choice but to use my true power!"

Light exploded outwards, and Undyne covered her eyes. When the glare cleared, Frisk was floating about six inches off the ground, her soul visible, the red human soul and white monster soul glowing brightly. Blue smoke wafted from her eyes, and she was holding a glowing white spear in one hand, a fusion of the energy spear she'd taken and an ordinary bone.

Asides from that, though, there wasn't much of a difference.

"The changes are mostly internal," Frisk explained, waving her hand. "Up until now, I've only been using a fraction of my true power, simply because I haven't had to use anything more powerful. Thing is, though..." She smiled sadly. "I gained these powers for a reason, didn't I? It'd be a shame if I never got to use them."

She clicked her fingers, and a Gaster blaster the size of her head appeared above. It shifted and split apart, melting around her head to form a helmet.

 _don't you think that was a bit overdramatic?_

 _What?_

 _the gaster blaster helmet. seriously._

 _Hey, if it helps with... stuff, I'll keep it._

Sans made a mental snort.

 _I'll choose to ignore that disparaging comment._

"I'll still give you a chance." Frisk stated. "Not to surrender, but... think of it as a ceasefire. Do you accept my offer?"

Undyne's response was to raise her hand in the air, and five spears appeared behind it. "I won't back down just because you can levitate and wear a fancy mask!" She launched them at Frisk with a flick of her wrist.

Frisk sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that." She raised her own hand, and two Gaster blasters appeared in front of it. They blasted a straight line between the two combatants and utterly destroyed the spears.

"Here's the thing, Undyne." Frisk continued, trying to fit in everything she wanted to say before Undyne attacked again. "Even with my powers... Even though you're trying your best to kill me... I still don't want to fight you. I don't want to fight anybody. So stop this now, before somebody gets hurt."

Undyne laughed confidently. "Somebody's going to get hurt, but it sure as hell isn't going to be me!"

"If that's how you want it." Frisk didn't even bother with the blasters this time, calmly dodging every single spear.

"NGAAH! DIE ALREADY, YOU LITTLE PUNK!" Undyne sent forth another array of spears. This time, it was a lot harder to dodge them all, and one of them impaled her hoodie, sticking there.

"Ha... ha..." Frisk ripped the spear from her hoodie and held it aloft. With a glow of light, it absorbed into the spear she held, then blew out of it in a blast of light.

"What are you trying to do?" snarled Undyne, covering her eyes.

Frisk jumped in the air and flew over her, landing behind the monster. "See you around," she said casually, jumping off of the outcropping and landing on the floor.

"Hey! Where're you going, you little rat?" Undyne jumped down and landing with a bone-rattling _clunk_ , armor rattling against her body. "Get back here!"

"No thanks." With a snap of her fingers, Frisk banished her powers. The mask, smoke, and glowing soul disappeared.

Undyne lifted her spear and threw it, but Frisk teleported out of the way. "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to kill me."

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" Undyne screamed.

"I have so much to live for," Frisk responded with a shrug. "I have a duty, and it doesn't involve death at your hands. So stop fighting me and just let me go!"

"NO!" Undyne shouted. "You're standing in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams! I won't let you get away!"

"Suit yourself. I'll be at that area not too far from here where there's a bunch of wooden bridges all connected together, if you're really determined to capture me. See you there."

"What are- NGAAH! GET BACK HERE!"

Frisk ran down the hallway, away from Undyne, as spears flew at her. She rounded the corner, and in a burst of heat vanished.

* * *

"oh. hey, kid."

"Don't you 'hey, kid' me!" Frisk was apoplectic. "You sold me out to Undyne? Why?"

Both the physical Sans and mental Sans gave the same answer at the same time: " _you already know._ "

"Okay, fine." Frisk sighed, all of her rage deserting her. "I know I deserve this pain. I know I deserve everything that's done to me, after what I've done. But I still need to save somebody who doesn't deserve what's happened to him, and after I've saved him I can promise we'll never need to talk about this again."

"oh, really?" Sans asked. "got just one question for you, then..."

Everything went dark.

"SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CHARGE?"

"Gah!" Frisk fell backwards and rolled onto her side with her eyes closed. When she managed to push herself up, the outcropping was empty, and Sans was gone.

"Okay, then." Frisk snapped her fingers, heat blazing around her. "We'll talk about this later."

* * *

"WHERE IS THAT LITTLE BRAT?"

"Over here!" Frisk called carelessly, waving an arm in the air, as if they were playing a game of hide-and-seek.

"NGAH! I've got you at last!" Although Frisk couldn't see her face under the helmet, she could see the gleam of triumph in her eyes. "DIE!"

Spears erupted from the floor around her as she ran. _Might as well make her feel like she's worth something against the power of combined souls, although I doubt she recognized it as such._

A few seconds later, a spear erupted into her foot and almost impaled her body.

"Aahh! Dammit!" Frisk stumbled but kept running.

 _this is why you don't try to make it easy for someone, kid._

 _Yeah, I think I learned that!_ Frisk tripped on the injured foot and fell on her face. Getting back up and spitting blood out, she added, _Do you think I can survive a jump off the edge of that bridge thing at the end?_

 _well, you managed before..._

 _Yeah, but I fell on a bed of flowers by pure luck!_

 _then just summon a 'blaster and fall on it, and have it levitate you down or whatever._

 _'blaster?_

 _yeah. apostrophe-blaster. it's short for gaster blaster._

 _We'll discuss this later._ Frisk reached the end of the bridge jutting out from the main body and turned.

Undyne stood there, blocking the way.

"See you later!" Frisk waved and jumped off the side in a momentary display of bravado.

A moment later, she was really regretting it.

"Aaahhh!" she screamed as she fell, her mind empty of anything but panic. "Why did I do this?"

By itself, her hand moved, clicking the fingers. A Gaster blaster appeared beneath her, and she fell on top of it.

"Hah... hah... hah..." Frisk breathed slowly in and out as she managed to collect her scrambled thoughts. "What happened?"

 _i saved your hindquarters by summoning a ''blaster for you, kid, that's what happened._

 _''blaster?_

 _yeah, apostrophe-apostrophe blaster. short for apostrophe-blaster. short for gaster blaster._

 _Enough of this, Sans!_

 _fine._

Frisk laid down on the cool surface of the skull-like thing and fell into restful sleep.


	12. The Monster Kid

**A/N: In case anybody's wondering, there's about nine or ten or so chapters left before the end.**

 _"Hey, Chara? What are you doing?"_

 _"..."_

 _"What's that creepy expression for?"_

 _"...heh..."_

 _"Stop doing that! You're starting to freak me out!"_

 _"You don't really know what's going on here, do you, Asriel? Ha ha ha ha..."_

 _"AAAHH!"_

* * *

Frisk sat up. The Gaster blaster had vanished, and she was currently on a small bed of golden flowers.

A final golden flower was sitting in front of her.

"Oh, great." Frisk tried to stand, but her head suddenly began pounding, and she fell back down on her rear.

"Look, Frisk." Flowey seemed almost sad. "Just stop it, okay? Stop trying. You couldn't save me before and you can't now. You can't save me, so just stop trying."

Frisk glared at him. "Do you really think I'll give up now?"

Flowey sighed and shook his petals from side to side. "Stop. Please, just leave me alone, Frisk."

"You're the one who popped up in front of me." Frisk pointed out.

The golden flower was silent for once. He looked down into the swirling, dirty waters as if contemplating his own mortality. "Frisk... don't you have anything better to do?"

At this innocent question, asked in almost the same voice as Asriel's, Frisk snapped. "No!" she shouted. "No, I don't! And I'm going to save you even if I kill myself doing it!"

Frisk collapsed onto the ground, folding her arms around her knees, and cried silently.

When she composed herself and looked up, Flowey was gone.

 _I don't have the time or the patience to travel through the rest of Waterfall. I don't have the energy to try to make friends here. I just want to try to save everyone. I just want to save Asriel. And the less time it takes to set up the circumstances leading to him coming back, the better!_ Frisk snapped her fingers, and heat burst all around her.

The bridge across the chasm loomed in front of her, filling her with determination. She took a step forwards and then another, making sure her feet echoed loudly against the surface. _I want her to be able to hear me._

"Hey! Yo!"

Frisk spun around to see a yellowish speck in the distance, growing gradually. As it approached, she recognized it as a monster. More accurately, the monster kid that, in many previous timelines, had went through most of Waterfall with her and inadvertently helped her not get killed on multiple occasions.

 _Now, though, I basically skipped through all of that._ Frisk thought, and felt a tiny twinge of guilt. _They were... I wouldn't say a_ friend _, but they were a nice companion._

"You're a kid too, right?" asked the monster kid eagerly. "I can tell 'cause you're wearing a striped shirt."

"Uh, yeah." Frisk couldn't help but wonder what they were doing here.

"Anyway," continued the kid hesitantly. "Undyne told me that you're, uh, a dangerous human with powers and I should stay away from you. But, uh, I wanted to see them. Can you show me them, please?" They looked up at Frisk with big, adorable eyes.

Frisk sighed. "Okay." She closed her eyes and concentrated.

 _seriously, kid? you're activating your powers just so some random disobedient kid can see?_

 _Yes. I am._

Sans sighed, and Frisk felt disappointment waft through their connection. _well, i can't really stop you, can i?_

Frisk's soul vibrated within her, and then she felt her true form claw its way out from her. The Gaster blaster helmet didn't even need to float down around her this time, it just appeared on her head. As her eyes blazed into light the spear of bone appeared in her hands.

"Yo..." The monster kid stared with awe. "That's _so cool!_ How can I do that kind of thing?"

Frisk snapped her fingers, and her godlike form melted away. "You'd have to absorb a human soul or acquire the equivalent amount of determination to one, and I wouldn't recommend either. Neither of them is a pleasant experience, especially the latter one."

"Aw..." The kid looked disappointed for a second before perking up. "But hey! Undyne's got awesome powers like that, too! And she didn't absorb a human soul, so how did she get them?"

Frisk smiled internally, knowing that Undyne's "powers" were nowhere close to hers. "Some monsters just have enough determination in them already to be able to do that. Who knows, maybe you're one of those monsters."

"Okay!" The monster kid was now jumping up and down on their stubby little legs. "Thanks, uh..."

"Frisk." she told them. "My name's Frisk."

"Thanks, Frisk!" The monster kid raced back towards the entrance, but screeched to a halt as a familiar figure approached. "Undyne! What're- Aah!" Teetering sideways, they fell off the bridge. And this time, unlike all the other timelines, they didn't manage to get ahold of the edge.

Frisk glanced at Undyne for a split second, then jumped off the edge.

The wind howled in her ears as she fell. Snapping her fingers, she summoned a Gaster blaster beneath her, then looked deep into the darkness. With her newly-enhanced eyes she had no trouble picking out the monster kid's falling form, and summoned another Gaster blaster beneath them.

 _huh._

 _What is it, Sans?_

 _nothing._

The blasters sped back up to the surface as orange smoke leaked from Frisk's eye. Stopping at the bridge, they tilted forward gently and poured Frisk and the monster kid onto the surface of the bridge.

"Yo... You saved me..."

"Of course I did." Frisk smiled wryly. "When you have powers like mine, you have to help everyone."

The kid contemplated that for a moment, then turned to Undyne. "Yo! Undyne!" they said confidently. "You said that this human was dangerous and would kill me... but if that's true she wouldn't have saved me now, would she have? So if you want to hurt her, you're gonna have to get through me, first."

Undyne was silent, then turned and walked away.

"Hey, uh, Frisk?" the monster kid asked, and Frisk turned her full attention to them. "Do you really think I might actually have 'powers?'"

Frisk smiled gently at him. "Anything's possible in this world." she replied. She snapped her fingers, and the Gaster blasters floated to above her palms. One vanished, and the other one shrunk to about a third of its size, then fell into her hand. Casually tossing it up and down in her hand for a few moments, Frisk examined the monster kid, then handed them the blaster. "Here." she said. "It's about the size of your head now, so you can wear it as a helmet. And if you can close these parts here-" she pointed at the mandible-like parts beneath the blaster's upper jaw- "you should be able to hold something in it."

"Yo... This is AWESOME! I can't wait to show my mom!" The monster kid turned to run off, but remembered Frisk was there and turned back right before they hit the entrance. "Thanks, Frisk!"

And then they were gone.

Blue light sparked in Frisk's eye as she snapped her fingers, and with a rush of heat she teleported to beneath the mountain-like pile of rock that Undyne would be standing atop in all the other timelines.

But she wasn't there.

"What?" Frisk started forward, and then heard a loud "NGAAH!" and something flying through the air. She didn't even have time to turn around or pull out her bone spear before Undyne's energy spear impaled her through her midsection. With a gasp for air that was only answered by gurgling blood, Frisk fell to her knees as she felt her soul shiver and break within her.


	13. Souls in the Sea of Time

**A/N: Sorry if there's some typos in here, my computer's kind of broken, so I'm borrowing my friend's computer to write this, and his keyboard is almost twice the size I'm used to.**

 **Derp: I swear, my reviewers are psychic or something.**

 _But her soul refused to die._

With barely a thought, Frisk expelled the spear from her body and turned, the wounds in her body healing almost instantaneously.

"Huh... You're still alive after that?" Undyne asked, puzzled. "Well, then, you-"

"Stop right there!" Frisk barked. "I just saved that monster kid with my powers, and you're still trying to kill me? _Why?_ "

Undyne seemed almost taken aback. "We need your soul to break the barrier! I thought you knew that!"

"So Asgore hasn't told you that he only needs to absorb _one_ soul to cross through the barrier, and then he could just take as many souls as he needs from the first humans he meets on the other side?" Frisk considered.

Judging by Undyne's blank expression, she had never been told of this.

"I'm not surprised." Frisk shrugged. "Asgore's not the kind to tell _anybody_ that kind of thing. But haven't you heard of the story of Asriel Dreemurr? Gee, wonder how _he_ crossed the barrier."

"Ngaah! That doesn't matter now, human!" Undyne raised her spear. "You're here, right now, and all we need is your soul!"

Frisk sighed. "You know, _I_ can cross through the barrier myself. If you'd let me, I could just cross over and grab a soul for you." Her eyes darkened. " _I know somebody I'd be quite willing to take the soul from._ "

"No! You're going to die here, now!"

Raising her hand, Frisk prepared a volley of Gaster blasters. "Fine, then, have it your way." And then she spoke in a garbled mixture of her own voice and Sans's voice. " _just don't say i didn't warn you._ "

Smashing her hand down, Frisk watched as Undyne was flattened to the ground by an inexorable force. Amazingly, she still managed to struggle upright. "You... won't... survive..." she managed.

"I'm just trying to save all the monsters in the Underground, like you are." Blue smoke poured from Frisk's eye. " _and you're standing in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams._ "

Frisk flicked her hand, and Undyne slid across the floor, armor plates grating harshly against the ground. Gaster blaster volleys shook the room.

" _however..._ " Frisk's voice was no longer her own. " _you are just working for the same ideals as i am. you just go about doing them in different means. i will not kill you, undyne. i have very important business to attend to._ "

In a burst of heat, she teleported to the cave-like entrance to Hotlands. " _see you around, undyne._ "

"NGAAH! Get back here, you little punk!" Undyne managed to pull herself upright and raced towards Frisk.

Sighing, Frisk teleported ahead to the beginning of the bridge over the lava. Sans was still sitting there, but this time he was wide awake. "heya, kid. where you going in such a hurry?"

"Alphys's lab." Frisk replied. "You better start sleeping again, Undyne's coming this way."

"not so fast, bucko." Sans grabbed ahold of her hoodie sleeve as she turned to go. "you and i have some things we need to discuss."

With a burst of heat, they were gone.

* * *

 _Right._ Frisk thought as the setting became clear. _Sans's lab. Where I found out the truth about who... what... he really is._

Sans was standing in front of the cloth draped over the broken machine. "your powers can't be explained by mere determination." he started. "i know they can't."

"And?" Frisk folded her arms defiantly. _I won't teleport out of here, not now, at least. I want to see what he knows._

 _look, kid, you know who i... we... are._ mental-Sans interrupted.

 _And?_

 _you know what physical-me's capable of, then._

 _And?_

 _god, you're exasperating, kid._

 _And?_

"see?" physical-Sans interrupted. "right there, you seemed to be having a little conversation with yourself. but you weren't talking to yourself there. or at least, not somebody who was originally part of you."

"And?"

"god, you're exasperating, kid. look, i went to alphys's lab and did a quick overview of her tapes. as i said before, your powers can't be explained just by determination, and what i've seen on the tapes just rectifies my statement. you had to have absorbed a monster's soul in a previous timeline before resetting, and then somehow avoided the reset erasing that effect. so who's was it?"

"Why should I tell you?" asked Frisk.

Sans sighed. "i was afraid you'd say something like that. look, fact is... knowing the power you could unleash at any time in a future reset to destroy us all... _I CAN'T AFFORD NOT TO CARE ANYMORE._ "

Something hard and heavy knocked into Frisk's head, and everything went dark.

* * *

"huh. interesting."

"Uhh..." Frisk struggled upright and pressed her hands to her head. Everything seemed to be fine... so why was she-

"good. you're awake." Sans said pleasantly, before turning back to the screen, on which was displayed an image of a slowly-revolving soul- her soul, she realized, on seeing the stark white monster soul trapped inside- with a bunch of unintelligible text written next to it. "it's rude to talk about someone who's listening, so have a seat while we go over this."

"I-"

"i said, have a seat." Sans raised his hand, and a chair floated from a dark corner, then dropped loudly to the ground.

Nervously Frisk sat, wondering what exactly Sans was about to find out about her... and maybe, what she was about to find out about herself.

"what's interesting is that, according to this data, you've absorbed both a monster soul and a human soul."

"What?" Frisk began to get up, but Sans pushed her back into her seat. "not even a human soul, actually. more like the remains of one in orbit around your own soul. like a cloud of gas surrounding it, except it's fragments of a human soul."

 _What?_ Frisk's mind was whirling. _How is this possible, I never..._

And yet a darker voice in the deepest corner of her mind hissed, _You know what it is..._

Frisk shook it off as Sans started talking again. "i haven't looked at the actual soul yet because this anomaly of practically an entire human soul in orbit around yours is so interesting. maybe that's part of your abilities. let's see... human part... twelve years old, excessive amounts of determination." Sans was silent for a moment.

"What is it, Sans?" snapped Frisk. "Finding something you don't like?"

"no, it's just... all this determination in your soul exceeds the power of a single human soul. in fact, together with this monster soul and the shards of the human soul, it equals almost the same amount of raw power as two human souls."

 _I didn't know that..._ Frisk's head hurt even more now. _Could it be... I can still-_

Sans interrupted her train of thought by rapping a bony finger against the image of her soul. "now, let's take a look at what poor monster you've imprisoned in-"

Strange characters flashed upon the screen, and Sans let out a sudden hiss as he swung around. "YOU... LITTLE..." He flung his hand upwards, and Frisk smashed into the ceiling.

"that explains one thing i was curious about, though..." Sans muttered as he let her fall to the floor. "the gaster blasters and the bone spear thing..." Grabbing her by the front of her shirt and lifting her so they were eye to eye, he intoned darkly, "the only reason you're still alive right now is because i still have my soul by some repercussion of the timeline. so start talking. now."

"What's there to say?" Frisk managed to get out. "I took your soul in another timeline. So you found out. The end."

"oh, there's a lot of things i'd like to end, number one on the list being _you_." Sans snarled. "i'll let you go on with your journey. you go ahead and get us out of here. but if you even start showing signs of using your power for worse... if you reset the timeline..."

His eyesockets emptied.

"I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AS MANY TIMES AS IT TAKES."

"now get out of here," he added, dumping her on the floor, "before i kill you now."

Frisk was only too glad to oblige, and appeared on the lava bridge again with knocking knees and sweat pouring down her face.

 _I don't have the patience for this anymore._ Frisk thought. _I'm not going to go through the Hotlands. I'm just going to befriend Alphys, go back and befriend Undyne, then teleport ahead to the king's castle, and hopefully Flowey will still come without killing Asgore, and then... I don't know what's next. But..._

She turned at the sound of Undyne's armor clanking.

 _Eh, screw it, I'll worry about planning for the end later._ She ran.


	14. Soul

**A/N: Before I say anything else, I just want to thank all of you guys for taking the time to read this. Honestly, when I started writing this, I figured it'd take the same path as all of my other stories to date and not gain much of a following. But I was proven wrong. At the time I'm typing this, this story has 6.975 views, 58 followers, and 40 favorites (which none of my other stories have reached at only about a half of the way through), and I really didn't think a simple story about Frisk taking Sans's soul and then resetting would be so liked by the community, and so again, I just wanted to thank everybody for that.**

 **I also have another announcement. I'm thinking about making an animation of this story. Remember, I'm only thinking about it, so it might not happen; however, if you still want to help out with anything, like voicing or animating, then just drop me a quick PM. Thanks.**

 **And finally, I'm still borrowing my friend's computer, so again, please excuse any typos.**

Frisk didn't even feel like she was running quickly, but in actuality she was probably going at twice the speed she normally could across the bridge. Undyne chased behind her, footsteps slowly growing weaker and finally slowing to a halt.

"Armor... too hot..."

Frisk was already filling a water cup by the time Undyne collapsed. Luckily the cup didn't evaporate like it had a few times before, and Frisk walked over to Undyne and poured it on her. Turning, she walked back to the water cooler and got another cup, then turned around. Undyne was standing upright, just looking at her with a slightly incredulous expression.

"Want some more water?" Frisk offered, holding up the cup.

Undyne's face twisted, as though someone had waved something nasty under her nostrils. Nevertheless, she accepted the cup, drank its contents so viciously she actually sucked the cup half inside out, and then dropped it to the floor, where it quickly evaporated. Undyne turned and walked away.

Frisk watched her go, and once she was sure Undyne wouldn't double back, she pulled out her phone. Although in this timeline Papyrus hadn't given her his number (and she actually wasn't even sure where the phone had come from) she remembered it from memory and punched it in.

 _Ring... Ring..._

"HELLO?" Papyrus asked. "WHO IS THIS?"

"It's me, Frisk, the human." Frisk replied.

"OH, HELLO, FRISK!" Papyrus was his usual jolly self. "HOW DID YOU GET MY NUMBER? I DON'T RECALL GIVING IT TO YOU..."

Frisk smiled as an idea came to her. "Oh, it was easy. I just dialed every number sequentially until I got yours." she responded.

"WOWIE... SUCH DEVOTION! YOU WENT THROUGH ALL THAT... JUST TO TALK TO ME? WELL, WHAT IS IT YOU WISH THE GREAT PAPYRUS TO KNOW, HUMAN?"

"Actually, I just wanted to tell you that Undyne's going to be coming back soon. I'd suggest leaving her alone for a short amount of time and not mentioning certain twelve-year-old humans." Frisk smiled wryly. "How about we meet up at her house in four hours?"

"OKAY! THAT SOUNDS GREAT! SEE YOU THEN!"

 _Click..._

Frisk headed forwards towards the lab. The river person would have been handy, except she didn't need them now considering she could teleport. Still, she might ride on their boat back to Waterfall just to enjoy the feeling of the water beneath her. That, and the river person often gave good advice if you listened to their rambling: without them she'd have never found the Temmie Village.

 _Shoot, I forgot to go back there and pay for Temmie's college to get the Temmie Armor. Oh, well, I don't really need armor in my new form. Still, I might go back and pay for her college just because I'm a nice person._

Frisk stopped directly in front of the lab doors and looked up at its vast size, taking a moment to admire the architecture... and then she walked forward.

She stepped through the hallway and into Alphys's lab. Unlike all the other times, the lights were on this time, and the giant TV screen was off.

Alphys was standing in the middle of the room.

"Oh. Um. H-hello. Frisk." Alphys tried to smile, but didn't quite make it.

"Greetings, Dr. Alphys." Frisk's smile was genuine. "Good to see you again."

"A-again? I d-don't really think that a camera lens works as a, uh, two-way system." Alphys stuttered.

 _I didn't do a True Reset before... killing everyone, she should at the very least experience déjà vu when she sees me..._

 _or maybe the trauma of genocide in turn wiped THAT clean, or the two routes, so far apart from each other, erased the lagging memories of each other._

 _Good point._ Opening her eyes, Frisk said, "I know you've been watching me all along. I also know that you've seen me use my powers. Why pretend you don't know what I am?"

"Uh..." Alphys didn't seem to know what to say.

"Great job, Frisk." Frisk muttered to herself under her breath, ensuring that Alphys could hear. "You just went and blew your chance of getting the help you need the most from the Royal Scientist."

As she had intended, Alphys overheard this. "H-hey, it's no problem, honestly. I-I can help you with, um. Whatever it is you need help with!"

 _Too easy._ Frisk thought. "Okay then. I want you to teach me everything that you know about souls. About DETERMINATION. Specifically, human souls and determination."

"O-okay." Alphys seemed much more at ease now as she pulled out a notepad from her lab coat. "I can help you with that!"

"I also want to know about something more specialized, but that can wait until after the basics are covered." Frisk suddenly wondered what Alphys would think she was planning to do when she asked her final question. Would she simply not over-analyze it and just give her help, come to the wrong conclusion... or would she figure out what she really was going to do?

"W-well, if you tell me what this specialized thing is, then, um, I can tie in the basics to it." Alphys turned around. "Here, come up to the upper portion of my lab. It's where my equipment is."

Frisk dutifully followed her. _Worth a risk._ "I want to know about the effects of a human soul being placed inside of a living creature that's devoid of a soul. Short-term and long-term." Alphys began to turn with a questioning look in her eyes, and Frisk immediately added, "Purely academic reasons, of course. I'm just curious."

"O-of course. That kind of thing couldn't happen in real life, could it?" Alphys giggled nervously. "So, um, where do you want to start?"


	15. Soulless

**A/N: As before, some of you are speculating on the future paths of this story. Despite the fact that there's practically no evidence to the contrary, I still will warn you to not let your theories cloud your perception of the story.**

Despite Alphys's lack of self-confidence, she was a better teacher than she gave herself credit for. Then again, spending such a long time studying this kind of thing probably helped.

But despite almost three hours' worth of research, despite the fact that Frisk had learned everything she needed to, her back hurt like hell from sitting for so long, looking at books, listening to the royal scientist's explanations, and writing notes. And her head hurt, too, not least because of calculating the determination required to stabilize a monster body.

 _you know, you don't have to do this._

 _Yes, I do._

 _no, you technically do-_

 _I'm not an existential nihilist like you, Sans. It matters to me._

 _okay, sheesh._

"H-hey, are you okay, Frisk?" Alphys asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My back just hurts from sitting here so long. It's nothing to worry about, honestly. I'm fine." Frisk winced as she stood up and pushed the chair away.

"Um, are you hungry?" asked Alphys. "I have-"

"No, it's fine, I've intruded on your home long enough. Thanks for all of the help, Alphys."

"D-do you need to go somewhere?"

"Well, yes, but technically I've still got an hour before I'm supposed to be there."

"O-okay." Alphys said. "You probably need to relax after all that. Do you like anime?"

"Yes, but-"

"Well, then, do you want to watch some anime before you go?"

Frisk smiled internally. _It's not like I have anything better to do, and she already seems to have accepted me._ "Sure."

"Okay, then!" Now that the topic had turned to her main obsession, Alphys perked up. "There's this one I have here called Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie and..."

* * *

About an hour later, Frisk's back pain had resolved itself, as had her headache. However, she couldn't say much for Alphys's anime: despite how much Alphys fangirled over it, it wasn't actually that good.

 _yeah, i actually agree with you, kiddo. it's times like these i wish i had total control over this body._

"Wasn't that great?" Alphys gushed as it ended.

"Yeah, sure, it was awesome." Frisk lied. Hopping to her feet, she continued, "Sorry for rushing off like this, but I have to go. You might want to keep the cameras in Waterfall on just in case."

"Wait!" Alphys jumped up. "Before, um, you go, let me give you my phone number just in case you need me."

"Okay." Frisk brought out her cell phone, knowing exactly what Alphys's reaction would be.

"Wh...where'd you get that phone? It's ANCIENT!"

Frisk considered telling her that the queen of monsters had given it to her, then decided against it. _I don't even want to know what her reaction to THAT would be._

 _not tame, that's for sure._

"It doesn't even have texting." Alphys took the phone and stared at it for a moment, then looked back to Frisk. "W-wait a moment, please!" She ran off to the side, and Frisk ignored the noises ensuing from her "upgrading" the phone.

"Here, I upgraded it for you!" Alphys said as she came back. "It can do texting, items, it's got a key chain... I even signed you up for the underground's No. 1 social network! Now we're officially friends! Ehehehe!"

An awkward silence ensued.

"Okay, thanks, Alphys." Frisk slipped her newly-upgraded phone into her pocket. "For everything."

"W-where are you going now?" Alphys asked as Frisk walked towards the "bathroom" door that she knew actually concealed the elevator to the underground lab containing the Amalgamates.

"Waterfall." Frisk replied.

"But that's the, um, bathroom..."

"I'm taking a shortcut."

In a burst of heat, Frisk vanished.

* * *

Papyrus was standing in front of Undyne's house, and turned at her footsteps. "OH! HELLO, FRISK!" His cheery, incessant grin was infectious, and Frisk couldn't help but smile. "IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE UNDYNE'S HOME, SO I WAITED FOR YOU TO TELL YOU THAT!"

"Do you know where she is?" Frisk asked.

"WELL, SHE MIGHT HAVE GONE BACK TO SNOWDIN TO LOOK FOR ME." Papyrus considered. "HOWEVER... DO NOT EVER TELL SANS THAT I SAID THIS, BUT I FEEL IT WOULD BE TOO TIRING TO WALK ALL THE WAY BACK THERE."

"Here, follow me." Frisk said, walking to the side of Undyne's house.

"WHY?" Papyrus asked.

"It's a shortcut. Trust me."

* * *

Papyrus blinked (Frisk wasn't sure how he even managed that) in disbelief. They had just arrived in Snowdin, right at the area where he would have fought her.

"Fast shortcut, huh?" Frisk pointed up ahead. "Looks like you were right, she's up at your house..." Now it was Frisk's turn to blink in disbelief. "...talking to Sans?"

"WOWIE... HE MUST BE EXPRESSING AN INTEREST IN THE ROYAL GUARD! THIS IS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!" Papyrus watched Sans teary-eyesocketed as he turned away from Undyne and walked towards them. "WHY ELSE WOULD HE BE TALKING TO UNDYNE?"

 _possibly because he still has that vendetta against you and is trying to mess up your plans,_ Sans replied.

Of course, she wouldn't tell Papyrus that, because one thing would lead to another and the beans would spill everywhere in the messiest possible fashion. And she didn't want to reset any more than she had to.

With a start, she realized that Sans was walking towards them. "hey, papyrus. i need to talk to frisk in private. why don't you go hang out with undyne while we're talking?"

"OKAY!" Papyrus responded cheerfully. "YOU TWO HAVE FUN!" And he raced off towards Undyne.

"look, kid, i'll cut straight to the point." Sans's eyesockets emptied. "what could possibly be worth taking MY soul to save? why are you doing this?"

"Sans, I can't tell you anything now, or you'll try to stop me." Frisk sighed. "But I can assure you that when this is over and everyone's free we'll never need to talk about this again."

"but i don't have any assurance that you won't turn around and kill everyone again. AND I WANT THAT ASSURANCE."

"I'm not going to do it again. I promise-" Frisk started, but then stopped.

"you can't promise a thing, can you?" Sans looked down at his slippers. "welp. might as well make this most of this timeline while it's still around. see you sometime soon, kid."

Sans vanished.

 _The thing is... I can't tell him how he can be sure that I won't reset again without him knowing what's going to happen. And despite everything... I know he still cares about me. I know he still wants to consider me a friend. But he won't unless he has that assurance, will he?_

 _there isn't really a way right now, kiddo. you'll just have to wing it until you carry out your plan. then physical-me'll know what you were talking about._

Heat flared around her as Frisk teleported up next to Undyne, who seemed to be in the process of pinning Papyrus down in the snow. "DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON! PLEASE!" Papyrus begged. "I KNOW YOU MISSED ME, BUT SKELETONS ARE VERY DELICATE, YOU KNOW!"

Calmly Frisk tapped Undyne's shoulder. "Hello." she said.

Undyne released Papyrus as she turned around. "Who's- Oh."she said in a flat, emotionless voice. "What do you want, human?"

"HOW ABOUT WE ALL GO INSIDE AND DISCUSS THIS OVER A NICE PLATE OF SPAGHETTI?" suggested Papyrus. "I'M SURE WE'LL ALL BE ABLE TO WORK OUT OUR DIFFERENCES WITH THE CULINARY MASTERPIECE OF MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!"

* * *

The silence in the room was almost as cold and stony as the spaghetti. Frisk had almost broken one of the tines off of her fork trying to eat it.

"I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" Papyrus suddenly exclaimed. "HAVE FUN, YOU TWO!"

Undyne stared off after him as he ran away, then turned to Frisk. "Why are you still here, you little brat? Do you really think you can get me to befriend you?"

Frisk nodded.

"Fuhuhuhuhuhu!" laughed Undyne. "You really are an idiot."

"What if I set you up with Alphys?" Frisk asked.

Undyne froze. "W...what?"

"You heard me."

"I... uh..."

* * *

After about five minutes of hemming and hawing, Undyne finally agreed to Frisk's offer. As in the other timelines, she had given Frisk a letter to take to Alphys, but this time Frisk made sure Undyne signed it.

Teleporting to Alphys's lab, Frisk slipped the letter under the door and teleported back to Snowdin, where she spent the next hour having snowball fights with Papyrus. She let him win, of course. Although she could have quite easily defeated him, she didn't want to make him feel bad about himself.

"I WIN AGAIN, HUMAN!" hollered Papyrus triumphantly as he stood over Frisk's snow-caked form. "NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Sans appeared next to them; for a moment Frisk wondered vaguely where he'd come from, then realized it didn't matter. "are you guys having fun?"

"YES! I HAVE DEFEATED THE HUMAN FOR THE SIXTH TIME!" Papyrus responded proudly.

"heh. i'm proud of you, bro."

Frisk pulled herself up and shook the worst of the snow off. "Ready for another fight?"

"YOU BET I AM!" Papyrus responded enthusiastically. "IF EVERYBODY OUTSIDE OF SNOWDIN KNEW WHAT A GREAT BONDING EXPERIENCE SNOWBALL FIGHTS ARE... SNOWDIN WOULD BE OVERCROWDED! AND THEN WE'D HAVE TO MOVE." he added less enthusiastically. "BUT STILL! SNOWBALL FIGHTS!"

"mind if i join in?" asked Sans.

"I DON'T KNOW, SANS. YOU'VE BEEN UP SO LONG, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY HAVE A NAP. I MEAN, LOOK AT YOU! YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY SLEEPY AND ACTING STRANGE BECAUSE OF IT!"

"bro, i-"

"COME ON! IT'S NAP TIME FOR YOU!" Papyrus hoisted his brother up over his shoulders. "WAIT RIGHT HERE, HUMAN!" Ignoring his brother's repeated cries for mercy, Papyrus raced inside with him. The sounds of somebody who's not tired at all being thrown forcefully into bed, followed by the noise of a mild scuffle, emitted from the house.

After a moment, Papyrus marched back outside. "SANS IS SO TIRED HE THINKS HE ISN'T TIRED. IT'S STRANGE HOW THE MIND WORKS." he informed Frisk, then suddenly pointed behind her. "LOOK! A HUMAN!"

"Wait, wha-" Frisk turned around and felt a snowball slam into her shoulder.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus laughed enthusiastically. "THE 'LOOK! A HUMAN!' TRICK WORKS EVERY TIME!"

"Hey, look, it's Undyne." Frisk pointed over Papyrus's shoulder.

"NYEH! NICE TRY, HUMAN, BUT THE MASTER TRICKER PAPYRUS CANNOT BE FOOLED BY A RIVAL TRICKER'S TRICKERY!"

"No, seriously, Undyne's right behind you."

"WAIT, IS SHE REALLY?" Papyrus turned around to look, and Frisk pegged him in the back with a snowball.

"YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL!" cried the skeleton, swinging back around. "YOU'VE TRICKED THE GREAT PAPYRUS FOR THE LAST TIME!" Gathering an armful of snow, he attempted to throw the entire thing at Frisk, but it separated in midair and floated aimlessly down. "CURSES!"

"Okay, for real this time, Undyne's behind you." Frisk said.

"THIS BETTER NOT BE A TRICK, HUMAN!" Papyrus turned around again to see Undyne walking towards them. "HELLO, UNDYNE! HOW WAS YOUR PLAY DATE WITH DR. ALPHYS?"

Undyne didn't bother correcting him, but instead looked down at Frisk. "Thank you, human." she said quietly. "You have proven to me that not all humans are bad today." She held out a fist, and Frisk made her own to bump it with-

-and Undyne swerved her fist up at the last second, grabbed Frisk with the other hand, and noogied her so hard she felt like her scalp was peeling off. It took all of her determination and Sans's determination to not scream in pain. "FUHUHU! NEVER TRUST ANYONE WHEN THEY HOLD OUT A FIST!"

"UNDYNE, I THINK YOU'RE HURTING HER." Papyrus pointed out. "EITHER THAT, OR SHE FOUND SOME MORE OF MY SPAGHETTI AND ATE IT AND SHE'S CRYING WITH JOY."

"Oh, sorry, kid." Undyne let go of Frisk, and she plopped back to the ground. "But seriously," she continued, "thank you, Frisk."

"It was no problem." Frisk said with a shrug. "So are we friends now?"

Undyne considered, then a grin split her face. "Yeah, I guess we are. See you two around!" And she raced away back in the direction of Waterfall.

"SO, SHALL WE RESUME OUR SNOWBALL FIGHT, HUMAN?" Papyrus hefted a snowball in one hand.

"Yeah, sure, let's- Hey, look, there's King Asgore!"


	16. Megalomania

After wrapping up the snowball fight with Papyrus (he won, of course), Frisk teleported ahead to Asgore's castle. She didn't feel like listening to the monster's melancholy story, but she did want to walk for a while: all the more time for Toriel to catch up with her and initiate the circumstances leading up to Flowey's appearance and Asriel's revival.

She stepped forwards and realized that she was in the same amber-colored hall; where in each of her previous runs Sans had judged her for her actions.

Mustering up the grim determination to SAVE, she continued down the hallway. _Is Sans going to even be here this time?_

He was.

 _I wonder what he will say this time._

"hey, kid."

Sans's eyesockets were hollow. That was her first hint that something was up.

"no long speech this time. i'll get right to the point."

The second clue was the reflexive tightening and relaxing of the two bony fists by his sides.

"you didn't kill anybody... but before you did. so i'll make this simple. i'm going to kill you over and over until you don't come back. and then... well... we'll have seven souls afterwards, right?"

The third clue was the Gaster blasters that appeared as he raised his hand.

"it's win-win. no more resets, and we're free."

Smoke blazed from his eye.

"see ya, kiddo."

The Gaster blasters spat forth their beams, and Frisk didn't even have time to do anything before they completely destroyed her body and wiped away her soul-

* * *

Second try.

"huh. look at your face. guess i'm pretty good at my job."

He didn't bother with the blasters this time, instead slamming her back and forth between the floor and ceiling, slowly whittling away at her in a never-ending cycle, until there was only two and then one and then-

* * *

Fifth try.

"well, i guess that-"

Sans wasn't even done talking when he began smashing her into the walls, floor, and ceiling, Gaster blasters and bones randomly appearing, but this time she managed to hang on to life until the attack was done.

"Sans, stop attacking me!" Frisk shouted, tears streaming from her eyes. "I promise, I won't reset anymore, I-"

"i don't have that assurance. you could go back and kill everyone again, and it would be even easier with my soul."

Frisk didn't even try to dodge this time, and Sans took advantage of her lack of movement and aimed everything he had at her-

* * *

Ninth try.

"Sans!" Frisk called out, cutting off the skeleton in the middle of his speech. "Please, just don't. I don't want to fight you. I know that what I've done is beyond forgiveness, but I won't do it again, I promise!"

"you not fighting back is making this harder, if that makes any sense." Sans sighed, completely ignoring her. "you're making me feel bad for slamming you into the walls and blowing you up with demonic skull lasers." His eyesockets widened as Frisk ran towards him. "uh, kid, what-"

Frisk threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. "Please," she sobbed, "just stop, and we can end this. I can't do this, Sans. You're my friend."

"uh, kid, i'm touched, but..." He sighed and put his arms around her. "Here's the thing, kid."

His fingers tightened on her back.

"YOU STILL KILLED EVERYONE BEFORE."

Frisk didn't even feel the bones as they erupted upwards and impaled her.

* * *

Seventeenth try.

Frisk dropped her glove and sat on the floor in front of Sans. "No." she said.

"yes."

The Gaster blasters only had to roar once.

* * *

Twenty-fourth try.

Frisk didn't have time to see anything but a blast of white light.

* * *

Fifty-eighth try.

"Why are you attacking me, Sans?" Frisk screamed through a curtain of tears. "I know it's more than killing everyone before! Can't you tell when I'm being honest? I'm not going to reset again because I won't be able to!"

Sans sighed and cut off his attack abruptly. "Kid... Frisk... I lied to you earlier. Right now, I don't have a soul. you have it. and i don't know how long i can last without it. i need it back. but you're not going to give me it, are you?"

"Wait, that was it?" Frisk's tears stopped. "Seriously? I don't need it anymore, so I can probably separate it from my soul and give it back."

Her soul pulsed red in her chest, Sans's trapped soul white within.

 _guess this is goodbye, kid. i'll try to turn physical-me to not hating you._

Frisk smiled. _It was nice having you around, Sans. See you._

Almost reluctantly, the two souls separated, and Sans's soul flew back to its owner.

"i can't believe this." Sans muttered, staring at his own soul hovering in front of him. "can it really be this easy?"

He reached out for his soul.

"fine, kid. i'll take this for face value. but if anything goes wrong, i'll trust you to reload. just tell past me that the toilet was clogged."

Frisk nodded and wiped at her tears with the front of her shirt.

Sans's soul glowed brightly before being sucked into him, and both of his eyesockets flickered red for just an instant before becoming hollow and empty.

"Sans? Did it go okay?" Frisk asked hesitantly.

"Oh, ︎ ✡︎es." Sans replied in a voice that was only half his.

"Sans?" Frisk took a step backward, mental finger ready to jump forward and reload from her earlier save.

Two thin lines grew from Sans's eyesockets, one upwards to where his hairline would have been if he had any hair, the other down to his jaw. They rapidly thickened and became hollow.

"Sans?"

"F✋︎nall✡︎." Sans continued, and now his voice was definitely not his anymore, and half speaking in a language Frisk didn't understand. "Now ✌︎ll ✋︎ nee👎︎ i💧︎ ✡︎our 💧︎oul."

His eyes began pulsing as a name etched itself into Frisk's mind, written for just a second in a script she thought was vaguely familiar before it reverted to normal, occasionally flickering back to that unintelligible language.

W. D. GASTER

"You..." Frisk snarled. Although she didn't have Sans's soul anymore, she knew already that this wasn't somebody Sans would have wanted in his body.

"Ha ha ha." Frisk laughed slowly and monotonously. "You may have observed my recent fight against Sans... _GASTER_. If you did, then you probably also saw that it took me 58 times to beat him, and even then that was when I gave him back his soul. However... that was because he was my friend. I don't want to hurt him. But YOU! You took his body and soul!"

And then, even though Sans's soul had long departed her, she still spoke in his voice.

 **"i won't show you any mercy."**


	17. Chara

**A/N: So I apparently confused a lot of people by ending chapter 15 with Frisk shouting that Asgore was behind Papyrus, and then him... not being there. Asgore wasn't actually there, that was just Frisk trying to get Papyrus to turn around so she could hit him with another snowball. I should probably go back and add a few sentences to make that more obvious, but I'm too lazy.**

 **And also, just to clarify the issue of the karmic damage last chapter, having absorbed a soul during genocide before resetting registers on the karma counter (if such a thing exists) as roughly 200 LV. That, and the fact that Frisk's reluctance to fight Sans hung over into her dodging skill, was why she was defeated so easily.**

Gaster cocked his stolen skull. "Ha." he said, sounding like he was speaking in two languages at the same time. "You think you can defeat me." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "You have given up Sans's soul. And now I have it. You could not defeat me even with his soul, even with your determination."

Everything seemed to shift around Frisk, flipping a thousand different ways every second. Gaster seemed to shift before her into every monster in the underground in the space of a few seconds.

"Huh... huh..." Frisk dropped onto her knees, retched, and vomited.

"Somebody is feeling unwell." Gaster stated in an emotionless voice. "Go ahead, I will let you recover. Nobody can say I am not nice."

Frisk didn't bother to comment on that, gasping and choking on the thick stench permeating the room. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

 _Wait! I can still reload-_

And the instant that the thought came to mind, a searing heat flashed through her skull. When it was gone, she tried to load, but realized that she'd forgotten how.

"No!" Frisk screamed to the ceiling.

"You are stuck with me here until one of us dies." Gaster's borrowed eyesockets reshaped, one into a wide oval and the other into a crescent. "And it is not going to be me."

 _Everything is hopeless._ All will to fight deserted Frisk, and she curled into a ball in front of the stolen body and soul of her friend.

And then a calming wave of tranquility rushed through her.

 _Frisk. I know you can do this._ said a familiar voice. _Stay determined._

 _Who's there?_ There was something about that voice and that feeling that reminded her of her first run through the underground.

 _Oh, you don't remember? Sorry about that._ A vision materialized in her head; that of a child her age wearing a green-and-tan striped shirt with a gentle smile on their face.

 _Greetings. It's me, Chara._

 _Ch...Chara? But I thought you... Why are you helping me?_

 _You probably don't remember how many times you reset to try to save Asriel. To try to save my brother._ Another wave of calm rushed into Frisk. _But I kept track. Do you remember how many times you reset?_

 _No..._

 _Nine hundred and twenty-five._ The fragments of a soul rushing around Frisk's slowed completely and pulsed brightly, forming a shield around her soul. _And you_ WILL _succeed this time. I will make sure of it._

 _But..._

 _Focus on the task at hand._ The pieces of Chara's soul began to connect, vibrant lines tracing around the shield. _Gaster can't stay in Sans's body forever. Just hold him off long enough, and I'll do everything I can to help you._

She felt rather than saw Chara's smile grow wider. _Stay determined._

And Frisk was filled with DETERMINATION.

 _Are you ready?_

 _YES._

Gaster's borrowed face split in a horrific smile. His eyesockets glowed, and pulses of light spat forth from his hands.

In a rush of heat, Frisk vanished from the target and reappeared off to the side.

 _What? How did I-_

 _The power of two human souls, working together in perfect sync right now is far more than what you experienced with Sans,_ Chara replied. _And I wasn't even helping then. Now, though... I will give you everything you had with Sans and more._

Reality fractured again, but Frisk's eyes sharpened to see what was really there, and dodged thirty feet to the side as a pulse of energy obliterated the spot where she had been.

"How?" Gaster frowned. "You do not have Sans's soul any longer."

"I have help from the demon that comes when people call its name." Frisk replied. She raised her hands, and floating, glowing red knives appeared over them. "Welcome to my special hell, Gaster."

The knives shot forth faster than any of Sans's bones had ever gone. Gaster managed to dodge them, but they swung around like homing missiles and flew back at his body. He vanished and reappeared in front of Frisk, turning into Toriel. "Hello, my child," the mockery of the motherly monster said before the knives slammed into her body and she dissolved into dust.

Gaster reappeared on the far side of the hall. "Humorous, is it not?" he asked in Toriel's voice. "Even the mightiest can fall so far when they see the death of somebody they care for." A fracture appeared along the line sprouting between Sans's eyesocket and jaws.

 _Kill him!_ snarled Chara. _Do it now!_

 _I can't kill anybody. Not even him._ Frisk sighed. _And that's Sans's body he's in right now, in case you don't remember._

 _Yeah, you're right._ Chara shook her head and copied Frisk's melancholy sigh. _Sorry if I'm acting a bit rash, it's just..._

 _I understand._ Frisk replied. _I've acted rashly many, many times before. My life on the surface wasn't all that great. That was the second reason I kept resetting, you know: Everybody down here cared about me. That was something I never experienced before._

Frisk dodged another blast. The world split apart at the seams around her and everything blurred, but again Chara restored her vision to normal.

 _There was one other thing I was wondering about._ Chara suddenly yanked at her, and everything split sideways into a dizzying mass. When Frisk's vision recovered, she realized that Chara had just saved her from total annihilation by gigantic laser beam. _The very last time, right before killing everyone, you didn't even let monsters go to the surface. You went to Asriel, forgave him for everything again, and reset right in front of him. Why?_

 _If you must know, I... I wanted him to remember everything when I reset and went to kill everyone. Deep down, I was hoping that maybe, remembering the last timeline, he might try to stop me. But he didn't, and that's the only reason I made it so far._

 _That's what we have to save him from._ Chara reminded her. _But before we can do that, we have to stop Gaster- and now might be a good time to teleport to the ceiling, speak of the devil._

Frisk complied instantly, and below her pulses of light destroyed the spot where she had been.

More cracks appeared along Gaster's stolen skull. "It appears that this body is wearing out." he stated. "And clearly I have overestimated my own abilities. The truth is... I just wanted to see the world again... before I return to nonexistence. Do you know what it is like to be shattered across the timelines, Frisk?" Gaster asked suddenly. "It is a terrible, painful experience. Do not ever do it. I..." Gaster sighed. The lines along Sans's skull vanished.

 _Well? What's he doing?_

 _I don't know, Chara. Let's just see if this is genuine or if it's a trap._

"I am sorry." Gaster raised his eyesockets to the ceiling. "Everybody. I am sorry for everything."

Light flashed brightly from his body.

Frisk covered her eyes, and as the light faded she brought her arm down.

Sans was standing there, with absolutely no signs of possession by the former Royal Scientist.

"what're you looking at me like that for, frisk?" asked the skeleton. "did it honestly look that bad?"

There was a beat of silence, then Frisk rushed forwards and threw her arms around him.

"whoa, careful, kid." Hesitantly Sans returned the hug. "why the sudden burst of affection?"

"I'm just glad you're okay." Frisk responded.

"me too." Sans smiled, the first real smile he'd made in a long time.

"Do you... remember anything weird?" asked Frisk hesitantly.

"me? nah, nothing. my soul's still a little disoriented from the whole experience, though."

Frisk breathed a mental sigh of relief. _He doesn't remember his possession by Gaster. At least that's something._

"you ought to get going, kid. i won't bore you with a whole speech you've probably heard about fifty times-"

"Nine hundred twenty-five." Frisk replied.

"huh. precise. anyway, all i'll say this time is this: take care of yourself, kid. because somebody really cares about you."

Frisk turned and left the hallway, leaving Sans standing alone in the middle.

Once he was sure Frisk was gone, Sans turned his gaze skyward. "W. D.?" he called. "I know some part of you is still lurking around up there. Just wanted to say... it was nice seeing you again."

There was no response, but Sans knew that Gaster had heard.

"see you around, bro." Sans teleported out of the judgement hall and into his room. He had an important phone call to make.


	18. Broken

_Are you ready?_ Chara asked.

"No," Frisk responded.

 _What? Why?_

"I blinded myself to the pain I caused when I went and killed everyone before." Frisk shook her head. "I have to confront what I've done if I'm to have any hope at being forgiven for what I've done."

 _Frisk, I'm not perfect either._

"But you didn't kill hundreds of monsters just out of curiosity."

 _Granted, but..._

"But nothing." Frisk knelt at the hallway that led to the throne room.

 _If my forgiveness is worth anything, I forgive you._

"The ones I really need forgiveness from don't remember any of it... except one, and I know he's forgiven me. I gave him back his soul, his brother, and a world on the brink of freedom." Frisk sighed as she remembered Sans's accusatory glare as he told her that he knew she would just grow bored and reset again. _And he couldn't have know how I wouldn't be able to reset again... and even once he gains the information from his recovered soul, I doubt he'll try to stop me._

 _A trip down memory lane is only going to hurt you, Frisk._

"I know. But I have to do it."

* * *

"Frisk, don't you have anything better to do?"

"No, I don't." Frisk shook her head, anger brimming in her eyes. "I don't remember how many times I've tried to save you, Asriel, but it's all been for nothing in the end anyway."

"You know, Frisk..." Asriel tried to smile, but he couldn't and looked down. "I would've liked to have you as a friend longer."

"So would I." Frisk replied. "See you next time, Asriel."

Asriel's head snapped back up. "Frisk, everyone has a happy ending again. You're just going to take that away from-"

* * *

RESET

* * *

"Really, Frisk?" asked the flower. "You really are an idiot. Well, see you again later on, I guess."

And he dipped back into the ground.

* * *

Frisk's fury had boiled over. So many futile times she hadn't been able to give Asriel a happy ending too...

With rage she smashed her stick as hard as she could into the first monster she encountered: a Froggit. Her force was such that it vanished in a burst of dust.

And so, the instant that Toriel left her, she slaughtered monster after monster... and her power only grew.

* * *

"You... really hate me that much?"

 _I can't feel anything._ Frisk blocked out Toriel as she spoke her last words and disintegrated.

* * *

"I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!"

Frisk rushed forward and smashed her weapon into him as hard as she could.

* * *

 _Okay, time to stop, Frisk._

Frisk managed to pull herself upright. "Y...you're right." she said hoarsely. "That just hurt more than it helped."

 _Anyway, if you've done everything right, when you go to fight D- Asgore, Mom will come and stop it from happening, and... well, you know what happens._

 _Yeah._ Frisk stepped forwards into the throne room. "King Asgore!" she called.

"Just a moment!" Asgore replied. "I need to finish watering these flowers!" He finished quickly and turned around. "Hello! How may I help you?" His face contorted and he backed away as he realized who was there.

"Let's not bother with the formalities." Frisk continued. "The barrier is up ahead, correct?"

"Yes." Asgore put down the watering can and walked out of the throne room into the next room.

 _Are you ready?_

 _Yes._ Frisk followed Asgore into the next room and past it up to the barrier.

Everything seemed to happen slowly. The canisters containing the six human souls... and the seventh empty one... emerged from the ground.

"Ready?"

Frisk nodded. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement...

And then a fireball appeared, and Asgore was blasted to the side.

"Greetings, my child."

"Mom!" Frisk and Chara shouted together, and as one they raced forwards and wrapped their arms around her.

Toriel returned the hug. "At first, I thought I would let you make your journey alone... But I could not stop worrying about you. Your adventure must have been so treacherous."

"Less so than you'd think, actually." Frisk replied. "And I made some new friends."

Right on cue, Undyne appeared. "NGAAH! Asgore! Human! Nobody fight each other!"

Just like the 925 other times, everything happened as normal. Everyone else appeared, and Toriel recognized Sans by his voice, then made an awful pun.

"Hey, c'mon, Asgore, everything's going to be okay!" Undyne said reassuringly. "There are plenty of fish in the sea!"

"Y-yeah! Undyne's totally right about that fish thing!" Alphys chimed in. "And just stop going after furry boss monsters... and, uh, get to know a really cute fish." She smiled up at Undyne, and Undyne smiled back.

 _I wonder what exactly happened on their date,_ thought Frisk.

And then vines erupted from the ground and wrapped around everyone, including Frisk.

 _What? This isn't supposed to happen!_

 _Just go with it, Frisk. You know you can't die._

And Flowey popped up from the ground. "Howdy!" he said. "Time's up, Frisk! Chara, I know you're in there somewhere... and we can have so much fun together now! Just two siblings, right? I'll be right back after I've absorbed everyone's souls... and Frisk's body's empty husk can be yours!"

 _Let me take over!_ Chara begged. _I can convince Asriel not to..._

 _Very well, I'll give you control, but don't do anything... well, you know what I mean._

 _I promise I won't._

And then Chara spoke with Frisk's voice. "Greetings, Asriel. Good to see you're still around after all this time."

"I knew you were there somewhere!" Flowey grinned. "Now let's divide up this worthless world between us and take everything it's got!"

"No." Chara responded. "Asriel, this isn't you talking-"

"Asriel is dead!" Flowey snarled back at them. "There is nothing left of him anywhere!"

"That's a lie and you know it." Chara replied. "Frisk, you were already planning this, weren't you?"

 _Yes,_ Frisk answered.

"Ha, silly question. Let's go on a trip, Asriel."

Chara snapped their borrowed fingers, and Frisk's body and the soulless enigma known as Flowey vanished.


	19. Save

**A/N: Wow, past 10,000 views! I didn't know so many people would like this.**

Everything was dark. The wind was howling.

And then, just as suddenly, it stopped.

"Yeah, the whole wind thing was probably overdramatic." she heard Chara say. The pieces of soul whipped away from Frisk's soul and coalesced in front of her, reforming into a complete soul. Yet, it seemed like pieces were missing, the edges ragged and torn.

"I've been in better shape, haven't I?" Chara murmured as their body reformed in front of Frisk.

"Wh-where are we?!" came a terrified voice. Frisk had almost forgotten that Flowey was still there. She had only seen him look this scared once before, and that was during the run in which she killed everyone and had been walking towards him, clutching the knife with a menacing expression.

"I believe the term is 'pocket universe.'" Chara told him. "This was made quite some time ago, although I don't think it was for this purpose."

"What purpose?" Flowey whipped his petals wildly around.

"Well, first off, we have a very important issue to take care of." Chara snapped their fingers, and in a rush of multicolored light the six human souls came from nowhere and floated around their hand.

"Ready, Frisk?"

Frisk nodded, and the souls floated over to her and came to rest in a circle around her own.

In a sudden burst of movement, they began violently revolving around her until light spewed forth from the darkness and there was an infinitesimally loud crunching sound.

"The barrier was destroyed." Chara said, and Frisk had never seen a more happy expression than the one on their face. "You are free," they added to the human souls, and Frisk watched them as they whipped away and were lost in the void.

"Well, yippee for you." commented Flowey sarcastically. "Why'd you drag me into this? To kill me and free me from my agony? Oh, what fun for you!"

Chara ignored the flower and turned to Frisk. "You were planning to give Asriel your soul to give him a second chance, were you not?" they asked her.

Frisk nodded.

"Oh, wow." Flowey rolled his eyes. "Like that would've worked."

"You're more right than you know, Asriel," Chara replied. "Frisk, when you got Dr. Alphys to help you, you learned that giving Asriel your soul would only be a temporary solution, and that after a period of a few years, depending on your determination, he would begin to crumble and fall apart."

"I know. I was hoping a more permanent solution could be found before then." Frisk replied.

"You were willing to make that sacrifice, knowing that in the end it wouldn't even work that long." Chara clasped their hands together. "Here's the thing, though: Frisk, you deserve to have a happy life after monsters are freed, too. I can't let you give that up."

"Chara, do you know what I went through on the surface?" Frisk's voice was low and dangerous. "I was raised to parents who didn't care about me and ditched me the first chance they had. They dumped me on my uncle, who was even worse, and moved to the other side of the country! I won't even describe the things he tried to do to me! Why do you think I ended up down here, Chara? Nobody climbs Mount Ebott for a happy reason! I lived a day's walk away from Mount Ebott and went there anyway _because the legend was that those who climbed it never return._ " Her voice broke. "I wanted to die."

"Oh, poor you!" sneered Flowey.

"I know that the surface isn't a nice place, too." Chara gently put their hand on Frisk's shoulder. "But... now you have a family. Everyone is here for you, Frisk."

"Yeah, whatever!" Flowey laughed. "Go ahead and cry your little head off about your poor tragic life and then go running to your _new family_ for help! I'll wait!"

"You know what? I'm tired of this, Asriel!" Chara's eyes were red. "I'm tired of having to talk to you as a spiteful, soulless flower!"

Flowey glowed bright crimson for just a second, and when the light faded Asriel stood in his place. "How?" he asked, staring at himself.

"I'm more powerful than you know." Chara replied. "And drawing off of Frisk's determination, changing a form is simple enough."

Asriel sighed. "This isn't going to work, you know. The instant we exit this..." He waved a hand around. "I'll turn back into a flower. You can't save me."

"I beg to differ." A true smile split Chara's face. "Frisk, you remember how Asriel and I died, correct?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And did you never wonder why my soul didn't persist after death when Asriel died?" Chara pressed.

"Actually, I never really thought about it..." Frisk frowned. "I guess I just thought that your soul was like mine: determination enough to reset, but the cost of that was that it would shatter upon death."

"No. No no no." Chara laughed. "No human to fall into the Underground has ever had the same amount of determination as you, Frisk. The reason my soul was destroyed was because I used all of the power Asriel and I had to duplicate that single slice of time. And by doing so, I preserved Asriel's soul. His original soul."

Asriel's eyes opened wide. "You mean-"

Chara nodded. "Unfortunately, retrieving it will come at a cost. Frisk, I'll need to leach off your determination. There isn't anywhere else that I can get so much of it. I-"

"What about the determination Alphys extracted from the six human souls?" Asriel pointed out. "Could that help?"

Chara threw an arm over Asriel's shoulders. "This is why you're my best friend, Az. You always think of those little things I couldn't." They snapped their fingers, and bursts of color appeared in the air before entering Chara's soul. It began to glow with an unearthly light.

Shaking their head, Chara frowned. "I'm still going to need some of your determination, Frisk. This isn't enough to cut it."

"Okay. What'll the costs be?"

"Well, you, uh..." Sucking in a deep breath, Chara spewed it out quickly. "You won't be able to reset anymore. No more saving, no more anything."

Frisk grinned. "That's just fine, actually. If this works, I'll never need to reset again." _And I can still keep my promise to Sans._

"There will be... another cost." Frisk didn't need to even look at Chara to see their eyes become steely. "But I'm ready to make that sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?" Asriel shouted. "Chara, what are you talking about?"

A wisp of red escaped Frisk's soul and flowed into Chara's, and Frisk felt suddenly empty.

"It's going to..." Chara lowered their head, and their hands shook. "Destroy what's left of me. Permanently."

"Chara, no!" Asriel threw his arms around his sibling. "I'm not going to let you die! I'd rather stay a flower!"

"I'm already dead. This is nothing." Their voice was rock-steady as they spoke for the last time. "Goodbye, Asriel."

"Chara!" Asriel screamed as the world exploded with light.

* * *

Frisk blinked. She could barely see anything, mainly because something white and fluffy was blocking the light.

"Frisk, are you okay?"

Her vision came into focus, and she saw Asriel's concerned face peering at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think." She tried to sit up, but that made her head swim, so she laid back down again. "Where are we, anyway?"

"The Ruins, at Mom's house." Asriel moved away towards the door and shifted awkwardly. "When I woke up, we were lying on the flowers where you first fell down, and you were unconscious, so I carried you over to here. Nobody's here, so I took you into the living room and put you on Mom's chair. You've been out for an hour now. I was getting worried... and hungry." he added.

Something about the way he said that made Frisk double up and burst into laughter.

"Frisk?"

"I'm sorry," Frisk gasped. "I just..." She stopped laughing and tried to stand. This time she was successful.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to Asriel. "Did it work?"

"I don't know. I didn't check. Presumably it did, since it's been an hour and I haven't turned back into a murderous weed." Asriel closed his eyes, and a bright white pulse came from his chest. Frisk could see his soul there, floating gently. "Yeah... it... it worked."

"Good. If anything went wrong, I can't reset." Frisk reached for her last save and found only emptiness. She tried to save, but nothing happened. "It's for the best, I suppose."

"Yeah. I just..." Asriel's shoulders shook, and he lowered his head so she couldn't see his tears. "I just wish you could've saved Chara too."

Frisk put her arms around him.

After a moment, Asriel stopped crying and broke away. "Thanks, Frisk." His voice became strained. "So, I have a question for you. Once you-"

"We." corrected Frisk.

"Once we get up onto the surface, do you-"

And that was when Frisk's phone rang.


	20. Surface

**A/N: Eh, maybe two chapters in one day is weird, but I already had it written, so why bother holding it back?**

 **In case anybody was wondering, this will be the last chapter of "Beyond Forgiveness."**

The sound of Frisk's ringtone blaring through the peace of Toriel's home startled both children at first. Once Frisk realized what it was, she reached for her phone and pulled it out.

"It's Papyrus... but why's he calling?" Puzzled, Frisk put the phone to her ear, realizing as she did that it was a stupid question. _According to Asriel I've been missing for an hour, of course they're going to be looking for me_. "Hello?"

"HELLO, FRISK! WHERE ARE YOU? EVERYONE IS SO WORRIED! THE LAST THING WE REMEMBER IS VINES COMING FROM NOWHERE AND THEN THERE WAS A LOT OF LIGHT! AND WHEN WE WOKE UP THE BARRIER WAS DESTROYED AND YOU WEREN'T ANYWHERE AND EVERYONE WAS SO WORRIED AND LOOKING FOR YOU UNTIL SANS CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF CALLING YOU AND NOW I'M ON THE PHONE WITH YOU!"

Asriel, who could hear everything the overenthusiastic skeleton was saying with his hyper-attentive ears, nudged Frisk. "Tell him to put Sans on the phone. He can just teleport here and get us, right?"

"Hey, Papyrus." Frisk scratched the back of her head. "We're in the Ruins; it's that area right before Snowdin. Sans and Mom know where it is."

"OH, OKAY!" Frisk could hear Papyrus's voice distantly shouting, "SHE'S IN THIS RUINED PLACE! SANS, SHE SAYS YOU AND ASGORE'S CLONE KNOW WHERE IT IS!"

Frisk heard fumbling and skeletal fingers clicking against Papyrus's phone, and then she heard Sans say, "so you're in the ruins, huh, kiddo? we'll come and get you. i know a shortcut."

"Wait! Before you hang up, can you put Mom on the phone?" Frisk asked.

"uh, okay, sure." She heard Sans say, "hey, toriel, the kid wants to talk to you."

"My child! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom. Just... when you get here, don't be too shocked by what you see, okay?"

"Frisk, what are you talking about?"

"Eh, it's easier if you see for yourself."

Toriel sighed. "Very well. See you in a moment, my child!"

 _Click..._

"I wonder how she's going to take the news that I'm alive again." Asriel sat on the floor and propped up his chin on his hand.

"Probably happily." Frisk sat down next to him. "So what were you saying before my phone rang?"

"Right." Asriel sat upright and turned his head towards Frisk. "So, I'm guessing you're going to be staying with my mom when we get to the surface, right?"

"Of course I will!" Frisk responded.

"Well, what I was wondering was if... I could consider you as my sister?"

Frisk laughed. "Sure, why not?" she replied. "If you want to know the truth, what with having reset over nine hundred times, you already feel like a brother to me." She put her hand under his long ear and flipped it upwards.

"Hey! No!" Asriel reached up and flattened his ear against the side of his head, trying to hide his smile. "Seriously, Frisk?"

"Sorry, I can't help it. I've got SHGPD."

"What?"

"Spontaneous Hyperactive Goat Petting Disorder." Frisk explained.

"Come on, Frisk, be serious!" Asriel laughed.

"It is serious. In fact, I can feel another bout of random goat petting coming on right now."

Fortunately for said goat, Frisk's fictious disorder was interrupted by the sound of pounding feet, and then Toriel raced up the stairs. "Frisk, are you-" she started, and then stopped.

Staring at Asriel.

"Hi, Mom." Asriel grinned sheepishly and waved.

Toriel blinked in shock. "Asriel? Is that... really you?"

"Yeah. I'm back." he confirmed.

Frisk cleared her throat.

"With some help from Frisk-" Asriel started, and then he stopped as Toriel embraced both children with tears of happiness pouring down her face.

* * *

"Isn't it so beautiful?" Toriel asked, staring transfixed at the ball of light in the sky.

"Sky's pretty, too." Asriel observed, pointing at the drifting clouds. "What're those fluffy things?"

"Those are clouds." Frisk replied, putting an arm around his shoulders. Asriel returned the gesture.

"WHAT'S THAT BIG BALL OF LIGHT UP THERE?" Papyrus wondered.

"that, my friend, is the sun." Sans dug a hand into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of ketchup. "best watched while drinking a nice big bottle of tomato product." He took a swig from the bottle before placing it back in his pocket. "eh, i should probably save this in case they don't have any ketchup around."

"You don't need to worry about that." Frisk told him. "Just walk into practically any place with food in it and they'll have ketchup."

Sans dabbed at his eyesockets. "i'm in heaven."

"IS THERE SPAGHETTI?" asked Papyrus excitedly.

"Lots." Frisk confirmed.

"YAY!" Papyrus jumped up and down excitedly. "I'M GOING TO GO GET SOME RIGHT NOW!" He raced off, presumably to attempt to procure some of this fabled human pasta.

"welp, somebody's gotta stop him from getting into any trouble." Sans followed his brother at a more sedate pace.

One by one, the other monsters left for some reason or another until only Frisk, Asriel, Toriel, and Asgore were left watching the sunset.

"What will you do now, Frisk?" Toriel asked.

Frisk turned her head to look at Asriel, who was as transfixed by the beauty of the world above as his mother had been. "I'm going to stay with Asriel... and I'll assume he'll want to stay with his parents." She tugged at Asriel's shirt. "Right?"

Asriel managed to tear his gaze away from the sunset. "Hmm? Oh, yeah." he said, then returned his attention to the sky.

"Well, then." Asgore said at last. "Let us go and begin this new age of coexistence with humans. Everybody is waiting for us."

And the four of them walked after the other monsters.

It was uncertain what the future would be. But they could hope it would be good.

 **A/N: Well, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed this-**

 **Wait.** **Back up.**

 **Did I say that this was the end?**

 **It's not.**

 **Oh, no, I don't mean that there's more chapters to come in "Beyond Forgiveness." But there will be a sequel! It is titled "In At the Death" and, at the time that I'm editing my author's note, the first chapter just came out. It can be found here (after a fanfiction .net is added in front of it):** **s/12221915/1/In-At-the-Death** **. Or, you can just go to my profile page, click "hide bio," and it should be the first one there.**

 **Now that you know that, I'd just like to thank you all for reading this, and I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it.**


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